The rhythm of our life
by Luna Ardere
Summary: Another story about Cassandra and Jah'ren. Now that they made their choice of being together, they will have to face consequences and well, problems of a more delicate nature ;D Rated M for sexual content,and because I like rating things M, just in case.
1. Chapter 1

PLEASE READ:

This is a continuation of the story about Cassandra and Jah'ren (go find it if you haven't read it;) But you don't necessarily need to read the first story to understand everything.

I would like to dedicate it to all those wonderful people who likes my works, those who reviewed my first story and made me want to write more, and especially those who took the challenge of drawing Jah'ren for me. Thank you for making me want to continue!

Disclaimer: All the usual stuff. Blizzard owns WoW, blah blah. And I just own my head, thank the gods for that, and my head is filled with stories that has to be told.

******

Cassandra curled up with her arms around her knees and listened as the remaining gusts of storm howled outside the keep. The cell where she was meant to spend the last days of her life was below ground level, without even a small window to let light in. A weak glow from down the corridor where the guards had a fire burning to keep out the cold was the only light in the entire prison.

The cell floor was stone, and the walls of stone too except for the slim iron bars which were set in the wall to the hallway to function as a door. Cassandra had stopped freezing a long time ago. The guards had forced her under in a huge waterpail, the only kind of torture the city's Lord allowed for women, and she had been cold, she just did not feel it any longer.

Outside the wind roared again as the storm regained strength for one last struggle before it died, like the deathhowl of a giant.

Cassandra did not need window to sense the storm, she had learned to trust feeling, smell and intuition more than her eyes lately, a result from training with someone who only had one functioning eye and did not need that too much either.

Laying in the dark and cold she imagined him beside her, forcing her mind to focus on other things than cold and pain, remembering.

They had been in the cave, the storm screaming in rage against the rocks, but they had been safe, warm and secure. She could feel the touch of the fire's warmth on her skin when concentrating, taking away the frost that ate its way into her body. Then came the memory of careful hands, stroking her hair, her face, loving their way down her body.

She heard her own voice; murmuring in the glow from the flames, his voice; soothing and soft. His lips were at her cheek, tasting her skin, when she jumped to her feet. Her mind could no longer take the torture of remembering and not being allowed to have what she longed for. She threw her body against the iron bars, screaming in rage. Screaming his name, until her body gave in and fell to the floor again, hands bleeding from pounding on the wall.

The guards laughed of her outburst, and the sound made her weep in desperation.

"Live," she gasped between sobs. "Please. Live."

Three days passed. Although to Cassandra the only difference from day and night were the faces of the guards that fed her when they had the bother. On the third day they made sure to remind her that she had only one night left before the execution.

Cassandra spent the day in silent thought, trying to find a way to escape, trying to cling to the hope that something would happen, a miracle of chance or fate.

And then it came.

Her miracle was in the form of a beaten, seemingly lifeless shape thrown in the cell opposite hers.

The moment the guards were gone Cassandra crawled over to the barred door and her eyes searched in the dark after what she was certain had been the body of a troll. Focusing her hazy brain she found the few phrases she could remember, and whispered them towards the darkness in the other cell.

There was no answer for a long time, but in the end there came a whisper back across the hallway. Cassandra recognized a couple of the words, but not enough to make any sense of it.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I don't know much trollish."

"Human?" a female voice asked.

"Yes. My name is Cassandra."

"Hetar," the voice said. "I'm Hetar."

"You speak common?" Cassandra was surprised. There were only few trolls who ever bothered to learn any language beside their own.

"Yes," the answer came. "I have been slave with the humans one year. I have learned well."

Cassandra felt the sting in her conscience as she so often did when humans acted stupid and barbaric.

"I'm sorry," she apologized on behalf of her race. "Humans are not really evil, it's just…" she stopped, finding her own need for explaining it idiotic.

"Yes, just like every race," Hetar whispered. "Not evil, but stupid and small."

"Yes," Cassandra agreed, immediately taking a liking to the troll.

"They put me in here," Hetar continued. "Say they will kill me in the morning."

"Me too." Cassandra felt almost relieved. If she was about to die she would at least have company. "What did you do?"

"I kill humans," Hetar confessed. "Stupid humans. We tried to escape from slavecamp, and I did not get away. So they put me in prison and tomorrow I will die. If they get their will. Why they kill you?"

Cassandra closed her eyes, even though it made no difference from the darkness in the prison. She let her mind circle around the painful memory of how they were discovered. They should have known better, they should have been more careful.

"I am a traitor. Or so they say."

"Why?"

"I have befriended a troll. And in their eyes it makes me a traitor."

Hetar did not say anything to this, and the silence made Cassandra talk even though she did not want to think about it.

"We had made camp, and lit a fire, because of the storm. The soldiers must have hunted us a long time, waiting for the moment we were too tired to notice and felt safe enough to find shelter and warmth. My friend was shot."

She had though about it afterward, how careless they had been. In the glowing light from the fire his back had been a perfect target. Sitting embraced in is arms she had barely been able to hear the whine of the arrows through the air before he had flinched with a small gasp. Now, as she touched her forehead she could feel the small cut from where the tip of the arrow had punctured her skin. At first she had not understood what had happened until she looked up and saw the silvery metal triangle protruding from his shoulder.

He had turned quickly, his eyes ablaze from the pain of the two arrows in his back, but still upright and soon he had his weapons. Cassandra had killed the fire with the soggy blanket, and then the darkness had been filled by sounds of fighting.

She had fought long, her dagger and hands slick with blood, until someone had hit her over the head.

Shocked, she sat up when she realized Hetar was talking to her.

"What?"

"I say: Your friend get away?"

"I don't know. They hit me over the head, and everything went black. They will not tell me when I ask. He had two arrows in his back, that is all I know."

"But he is troll? Trolls are very strong."

"Yes, he is very strong," she sighed into the dark, hearing herself how much her voice conveyed of worry and pain.

Hetar coughed in the other cell, a rasping sound which worried Cassandra.

"Are you much hurt?" she asked. "That does not sound good."

"Troll is strong," came the answer, but the voice was full of pain. "I will live. At least until the morning."

They sat in silence a long time, and Cassandra had almost fallen asleep against the bars when one of the guards came. He squatted down beside the doorway and looked at her before he put a cup of water and a small, round bread in front of her.

"I though you should have something before going to the gallows," he explained. "And I will leave the light for you."

He did leave the candle and as he walked away, Cassandra looked across the stone covered floor and her gaze met two glowing eyes in the opposite cell. Hetar was bloody and bruised, but there was something very strong and decisive over the troll's expression. She nodded silently, acknowledging the other prisoner without a word. Cassandra split the bread into two pieced before throwing one of them over to the other woman.

There was a brief smile in Hetar's face before she bit into the bread with eagerness. Cassandra studied the female while she ate, having learned to rely more on intuition than things like race and kin when deciding who were allies and who were enemies.

Hetar was blueskinned with red hair, some of it in the carefully done braids of someone who wanted to look feminine and still needing it to be practical. She had small tusks, bent upwards, at the edges of her mouth. Her eyes were kind, but also hard, telling whoever looked into them that she might as well kill you as be your friend.

Cassandra picked up the cup and swallowed some of the water. As she did the troll looked longingly at her, eyes telling of hunger and thirst better than words could. Cassandra stretched an arm out towards her, and with their joint effort she managed to get the cup into the other one's bloody fingers.

"Thank you," Hetar whispered. "I need strength in the morning."

"Do you have a plan?" Cassandra whispered back, straining to keep herself from sounding too eager.

"I have a mate," was the troll's answer. "If he not come, I will fight and die fighting. I will never let them hang me." She spitted in disgust. "If they want to hang me they will have to hang my dead body!"

Cassandra had thought the same earlier. If there was no chance of escape, no chance of salvation, she would go out kicking and screaming. She would not die on the gallows, silently keeping her head down.

"Maybe they are alive," she said, trying to comfort them both. "Our mates. Maybe they will rescue us."

Hetar looked shocked at her, and after feeling that intense gaze at her for a while, Cassandra suddenly realized what she had said.

"Mate?" Hetar croaked after some time. "You say friend. Not mate. Troll mate?"

"Well, yes," Cassandra answered, a little vexed at the reaction she had gotten. "He is my mate. And I know everyone thinks it's horrible."

Hetar seemed to think about it, then she said:

"No. Just weird. Not horrible."

There was another silence, both of them thinking of the ones they hoped were still alive and well out there somewhere.

"What are you and your mate doing here?" Cassandra asked finally. "I mean, I know you were taken slaves, but where is the rest of your tribe? Have they been killed?"

"No," Hetar said, looking sad for a second. "We come here to find my brother."

"Your brother? I did not know trolls even had that expression. Your bonds seem so different from the human ones."

"Not all troll, but Hetar have little brother, not seen for long now. When I was young I was sent away for training, and he was left with the tribe. He was young and stupid and did not want to listen and then he left the tribe. Many, many years later I heard about him being here and I went to find him."

"That is sweet of you," Cassandra smiled. "I am sure your brother will be very happy when you find him."

Hetar smiled back and asked:

"Your mate, how did that happen? I have not heard about trolls and humans too often. Not like that, not love."

Cassandra told about the meeting in the riverpond, where she had lost all sense and reason because of two green eyes.

"We are hunters both," she explained. "And that is a part of who we are, it is very difficult to explain. My mate has this way of saying it, it probably sounds better in trollish; Hunt, live…"

"Forest, sky," Hetar finished.

"So it _is _a troll thing," Cassandra exclaimed. "You know it."

She smiled at the troll in the other cell and got nothing but a strange look of disbelief in return.

"It is not a troll thing," Hetar said eventually. "There is only one troll I know who would say that. What you say your mate's name is?"

"I didn't." Cassandra could see something in the others eyes she did not like, and when she spoke it was partly against her own will. "His name is Jah'ren."

Before Cassandra could react the troll threw the remains of her bread in the human's face.

"No," Hetar wheezed. "You are lying."

"I am not," Cassandra protested. "You know him?"

When the other one did not answer Cassandra took out the necklace she had been given. Jah'ren had told her it had something to do with the tribe, something about how the beads were placed, something about the material. He had worn it around his arm all these years, and then he had given it to her.

Watching the troll across the corridor she could read her face, and knew Hetar recognized it.

"Jah'ren," the troll moaned, looking at the beads. "That belongs to my little brother…"

Cassandra ignored the hand that tried to reach out for the necklace and put it back under her shirt. She thought of how Jah'ren had carefully stringed the beads back together when the string had broken, rotted away by the years. Then he had turned to her, placing it in her hands and telling her to wear it.

"He never told me he had a sister," Cassandra said, feeling slightly relieved that they were family and nothing else. "But he does not like to talk about…"

She trailed off when she noticed the troll in the other cell was weeping quietly.

"I have not seen him since he was young," Hetar explained. "He was a youngling, barely ready for trying to tame a pet for himself. Always fighting the other trolls, always running around, playing and laughing."

"Sounds like him," Cassandra smiled. "He's always so full of laughter."

"And then I returned, they say he was dead to the tribe, told me he had gone. When I got the chance I went to find him."

Cassandra pictured Jah'ren as a young troll, she had no problem seeing him as a silly youth, set in his ways and not about to let anyone tell him what to do.

"It is strange," she told the troll. "I can't imagine him being anyone's little brother. He's not very little."

Hetar looked up at her, eyes turning soft, and dried the tears on her cheeks with the back of her hand.

"Tell me," she begged. "Tell me of my little brother."

***

Cassandra talked the better part of the night. She told Hetar about Jah'ren, how they had met and how he looked. All the stories about fights and hunts that he had told her. She described his scars, how he had gotten them, and they laughed about his hair, both having tried to do something about it when it refused to be anything but tousled.

When the guards came to get them, they were both half-asleep against the wall by the door in each cell, both hiding inside their own little world of thought and memory.


	2. Escaping

Neither one fought the guards as they were lead up on the platform where two nooses already hung. Cassandra was watching Hetar, waiting for a sign or a motion to say the time was right, and then she would fight with everything she had.

It was a beautiful morning, the sun hanging just above the horizon, gleaming down at the two who were supposed to hang.

As Cassandra looked down from the scaffold she met the eyes of dozens of people who had come to watch. Hetar got a lot of nasty remarks thrown at her, and someone even threw a stone, but the guards soon put a stop to that. Cassandra stood straight and tried to look strong and proud, and to some degree it was working; nobody shouted at her, nobody threw anything. Some of the women in the crowd pointed at her and she thought she heard them commenting on such a shame it was, hanging a young girl.

_You should only know,_ she thought. _This young girl has killed more men than you have loved. She has faced things you could not imagine. And above everything, she gave her heart to the enemy. _

The city's Lord was there, sitting on a chair on another platform a little distance from the scaffold. He stood up and spoke to the people, but Cassandra did not have time to listen, the strange nagging feeling she had felt all night grew stronger. It was still not clear enough to be certain, but she felt it like a beckon inside her mind, a whisper on the edge of hearing.

One of the executioners came forward to put the noose around her neck. She lifted her head proudly, ready to spin and kick, and caught a glimpse of a shadow up on the wall, just below the burning disc of the sun.

The violent heartbeats in her chest ceased and she ducked on instinct. Falling to her knees on the scaffold she heard the sound of an arrow flying through the air, and then hitting flesh.

"Up there!" a guard screamed, but looking up they could see nothing but the sun's brilliant glare over the wall.

Another arrow took out a guard and the next one killed the second executioner. Then the shadow on the wall moved, running on the parapet faster than the guards could keep up with.

At the same time Cassandra and Hetar noticed another tall figure, this one cloaked, coming out from the mouth of an alley and heading for them. He jumped the platform at the same time as the guards reached the women on it. Cassandra saw two three-fingered hands performing a series of quick movements and the next moment the guards were running away in panic, their bodies out of the control of their own brains.

A knife gleamed and soon Hetar had her hands free. Grabbing the knife from the other troll she cut Cassandra's bonds as well.

"Come," she ordered, motioning towards the western wall of the city keep. "Way out."

Cassandra ran with them, struggling to keep up with their long strides, and at the same time wondering what was happening behind them.

They had almost reached the wall when a figure dropped down from above and landed like a cat, on all fours, in the street in front of them. Cassandra ran to him and before she managed to speak he had picked her up and nodded to the other trolls before continuing towards the wall.

The cloaked troll pointed at the wall a little way off and said something in his own language.

"Hold on!" Jah'ren ordered Cassandra, and as she slung her arms around his neck he jumped.

Stretching his body to its full length he grabbed hold of a gap in the wall, and jumped from there on to a small ledge. The other two trolls followed, working their way up the wall and soon they were on the battlements.

Jah'ren looked over the edge a second before glancing down at Cassandra.

"Kass, close eyes. Not look."

Cassandra knew better than to protest, so she closed her eyes tight and tried to ignore the rush in her stomach as he jumped of the wall and fell towards the ground below. Rolling as they landed Jah'ren was on his feet again in seconds, ready to run, but he stopped as Hetar spoke. Cassandra did not understand the fast conversation in their rhythmic language, but when they were done Jah'ren turned back and all three of them started running along the city wall.

"What are we doing?" Cassandra asked, hanging on to her friend's body like a koala on a tree.

"Other troll has plan," Ja'ren explained quickly. "We go the way they don't think we go."

She saw the logic in the plan, but she was still anxious about staying too close to the city and the keep.

They came to a place where the walls of the keep rose up from the cliffs above the ocean, and Jah'ren let Cassandra down, motioning her to be quiet. From behind them came to sound of soldiers and horses as they searched the forest for the escaped prisoners. Hetar and the cloaked troll started climbing down the cliffs towards a small brown shape in the water that Cassandra realized was a boat.

"Kass climb? Or hold on to Jah'ren?" the tall hunter asked and looked down the cliffs.

"I'll manage," Cassandra answered, not being certain she could.

She had no problems with heights, but climbing down a sheer cliff over sharp rocks and white water did not feel exactly safe, even with Jah'ren climbing below her, assuring her he would catch her if she fell.

Luckily, they got to the boat without accidents and crouched down in the bottom of it. Hetar loosened the rope holding the vessel and the cloaked troll took the oars, carefully maneuvering them out from the rocks.

"We be silent," Hetar whispered. "Ba'ka take us to safe place."

They sat silent while what Cassandra had come to understand had to be a troll priest rowed them along the cliff wall. The ocean was still, only some lazy, rolling waves lulling their boat. Cassandra was itching to talk, to speak to Jah'ren and to tell him who the female troll was, but she knew it would have to wait until they were somewhere secure.

After an hour in the boat the priest steered it out to a small island, where they dragged it onto land in the shelter of some trees hanging out over the water. He then led them to a small cove by the water where he turned to the others and took his hood of.

His face was kind and smiling with large tusks and his hair was a strange pink colour.

Hetar put her arms around her mate's neck and they held each other for some minutes without uttering a word.

"Jah'ren missed you," a soft voice said by Cassandra's ear, and she knew he was hinting.

She turned around to embrace him, but was instead lifted up and squeezed in his arms, struggling a little.  
"Don't crush me," she warned, but he did not listen and held her even tighter. "I missed you too," she whispered in his ear and stroked his hair affectionately.

Her lips moved along his chin, leaving little butterflykisses until she reached his lips, then he turned his head and kissed her deeply until they both discovered they were being watched. The two other trolls were looking at them, a mixture of disapproval and bewilderment in their eyes.

Cassandra crawled out of the tight grip and got her feet back on the ground.

"Jah'ren," she said, trying to find a good way of telling him. "Do you remember any of them?"

"I not remember," Jah'ren answered, being far to occupied with stroking her hair to even take a second look at the others.

"Well," Cassandra continued. "Hetar says she is your big sister."

"Hetar?"

Hetar spoke to him in their own language, and Jah'ren finally let go of Cassandra, walking over to the other trolls. Cassandra stood back, feeling left out and a little disappointed that Jah'ren did not seem much pleased to see his sister. As she sat down on the sand, still listening to words she did not know the meaning of, Hetar's mate came over and squatted down beside her.

"Ba'ka," he said, motioning to himself. "That me name."

"I am Cassandra," she smiled. "I am sorry, but I don't speak much trollish."

"Ba'ka speak little human," the priest comforted her. "Not like Hetar. She smart."

Cassandra watched the redhaired troll as she and Jah'ren talked quickly and a little irritated to each other.

"They do not seem too happy," she commented. "Can you tell me why?"

"Oh, yes, me know," the troll beside her smiled slyly. "Hetar no happy little brotha be with human."

"But that's none of her business," Cassandra said annoyed. "I hate that everyone gets mad at us for being together."

"Oh, no." The priest grinned at her again. "Not like dat. Hetar say Jah'ren only have little human for pet. She say: When you bore, throw pet away, like toy when little. Not be bad to nice human. Jah'ren say: Stupid sista, Jah'ren not little more. Jah'ren know love. But Hetar not think Jah'ren right."

Cassandra looked at the two siblings, not able to keep from smiling.

"They're siblings alright," she laughed. "Already fighting about nothing much."

The priest laughed with her, shaking his head as he did so.

"Jah'ren 'n Hetar always fight. When little, no peace in tribe for little brotha and sista always make noise."

"You are from their tribe?" Cassandra asked, trying to remember the little Jah'ren had told her about his past family.

"No, not from tribe. But other tribe, live same place. Ba'ka older than they, go with Hetar to look for Jah'ren, to bring home."

"You are going to bring him home?"

She got a look that told her the priest had said something he should not have, and before she could ask again, a large hand touched her shoulder.

"Kass," Jah'ren said, obviously wanting her attention.

She looked inquisitively at him, but instead of saying anything he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the other end of the cove, where there was a little patch of grass. Sitting down he placed her on the ground beside him and snorted a little at Hetar. Cassandra did not understand what was going on, but she snuggled up beside Jah'ren and soon they got comfortable, him half sitting against the rock wall, and she laying beside him, her head on his chest.

Ba'ka had found himself a rock for a chair and Hetar sat down between his knees, resting her back against the stone.

The two pairs stared at each other across the small sandbank inside the cove until Cassandra broke the uncomfortable silence.

"How did you find us?" she asked both the male trolls. "Did you cooperate?"

It was Jah'ren who answered:

"No, we did not. And I feel Cassandra, easy to find her."

She nodded pleased as he continued. They were becoming good at feeling the other one's presence.

"And I thinked, I thinked much!"

Hearing the pride in his voice Cassandra almost held herself from teasing, but it was too good an opportunity to pass.

"Jah'ren," she moaned. "What have I told you about thinking? It only makes your head hurt!"

Two green eyes watched her, narrowing down until he looked frightful, but she knew the trick and did not feel the least bit scared.

"And you get so grumpy too," she complained. "I swear, one of these days your head will explode and then what shall I do?"

Jah'ren put his hand over her face. It was large enough to cover most of her eyes, nose and mouth, and she fought him half-heartedly while laughing into his palm. Through the rumble in his chest she could hear the sound of the other trolls laughing too, something that pleased her.

Still, somewhere inside, her mind tried to remind her of what the priest had said, but for the moment she was enjoying the warmth of his familiar body next to her.


	3. His Dance

There's sex here. Just so I have warned you. Just because.

****

The following day, while the women rested in the cove, the hunter and the priest went out on the beach to fish. The cove was an excellent place to hide; a small nook in the landscape on the island, with white sand and small patches of grass. Tall rock walls prevented all insight and trees growing all around the cove gave shelter against wind and weather.

Cassandra smiled as Jah'ren carefully made himself a fishing rod and pranced after Ba'ka, clearly loving to have other trolls around again although he tried to deny it when she asked him.

The two women used the time they were gone to take care of wounds and wash their tired bodies, enjoying the feel of lukewarm, salt water.

Laying on the grass, drying off and gathering strength, Hetar turned to her human friend and stared at her until Cassandra had to ask why.

"I'm thinking," the trolls smiled. "I am thinking if I should ask you what I want to ask you."

"Aha," Cassandra said, slightly suspicious. "And this question concerns what exactly?"

"Well," Hetar hesitated. "I feel maybe, as the other female here, I should ask how things are between you and my brother…"

Cassandra could hear everything unsaid in the sentence and her cheeks turned a brilliant red immediately.

"Just out of friendly interest?" she said, trying to keep her voice firm.

"Just because I am a troll. And you are a human. And Jah'ren is a troll. That is why."

Cassandra's cheeks went even redder, but she also felt a little relieved. She had wished there was someone to talk about things like this with, someone to ask when she wondered, but it still made her feel awkward.

"It could be good to talk a little," she admitted.

Hetar took the hint in her voice and led the conversation.

"I expect," the troll smiled, obviously feeling a bit awkward herself. "I expect you have … well, you know … before."

"Yes," Cassandra said hurriedly. "Yes, with humans. And one elf."

"Elf," she nodded. "Pretty elfsis. And humans. But not with troll."

"No." The blush reached the top of her shirt.

"No," Hetar mimicked, evidently thinking hard. "It's very different. Very different, human and troll."

_Oh, gods. _Cassandra thought. _Don't start blushing you too, because I feel silly enough already._

"I know only troll love, but I know it is different, because trolls and humans are different. Humans are soft, and trolls are not."

This was apparently as far as she would go without some sort of feedback from the other part, and Cassandra, who had fought monsters so scary they could give you nightmares for weeks, was trembling from nervousness when it came to talking about her sex life.

"Well…" she began, swallowing hard. "We have, you know, kissed and kind of… well … cuddled." She exhaled and drew breath again, deciding it was all downhill now. "And then there was that time in the cave, when the soldiers attacked us, and if they had come just minutes later it would have been much more embarrassing, if you know what I mean…" The troll nodded, not going to interrupt now that Cassandra finally had loosened up. "And I don't even know why it happened then and there… We were cold and made a fire, and there were a lot of things we should have done, like making food or mending weapons, but suddenly I just looked up at him and I wanted… I really hungered for him, and he did not seem to object much."

"Object?" Hetar laughed. "I would not think so. Even though we have been parted for many years, I can read my brother well. He is waiting for you to make to first move, because, strange as it seems to me, he cares a lot for you."

Cassandra considered this; it made more sense than she would like to admit. She had been waiting for him to do something, take the lead, but he had never done so, and that had made her scared and insecure.

"I though," she confessed. "I though he did not want me in that way. I though maybe it wasn't that kind of attraction to him."

The troll laughed, this time making Cassandra blush again.

"You both wait for the other one to do something first. I find that funny. But I have seen him kiss you, I can not understand how you can not know."

When she said it like that Cassandra found it rather funny too, and they were both still laughing as the tall figures of their mates pushed their way through the branches and into the cove.

Jah'ren looked from Cassandra's blushing face over to his sister and then to the other male.

"Something is very funny," he told Ba'ka, who was carrying several fishes strung together with a vine.

"Wo'man strange," the priest said, shaking his head. "Men find fish, wo'man find funny."

This only resulted in the two women laughing even more, Hetar caught Cassandra's gaze and winked slyly, their mates still baffled, not exactly getting what the joke was about.

****

That evening the stars came out, the sky for the first time in months being completely clear and cloudless. The little party of three trolls and one human sat around their fire in the small cove, looking through the branches above at the twinkling lights on the black velvet sky.

Cassandra was laying with her head on Jah'ren's chest, listening to his heartbeat and breathing, while thinking of the last strange weeks.

"Moon on water is so beautiful," Hetar said, breaking the sleepy silence around the fire.

The three other nodded in agreement, the moon really was beautiful where it was mirrored in the black surface of the ocean.

After a little while, the female troll stood up and stretched.

"Ba'ka and me are going to the other side of the island to look at the stars," she said, trying to sound like it was the most natural thing in the world, but Cassandra saw the flash of a smile over her face.

"Me cold," Ba'ka complained, moving closer to the fire. "Me like fire."

Hetar dragged the priest to his feet and put her arm around his waist.

"You just come with me, stupid, and I'll make sure you are warm enough."

She winked deviously at Cassandra before pushing her mate out of the cove. Cassandra understood all too well why they were going and her heartbeat increased.

Jah'ren watched them leave with an amused twinkle in his eyes.

"I know what they gonna do," he laughed. "All the way on the other side of the island."

Cassandra swallowed and closed her eyes while thinking:

_I know what I'm gonna do too. And I hope your sister is right._

She stroked her hand over the rough leather of his vest down to where it left a patch of bare skin on his stomach, being just a little short for his long body. Slightly cold fingers started caressing their way up under the vest, fingers spread and shivering. A small, happy purr from him as she trailed her nails over his chest told her what she needed to know.

"Kassandra," he breathed, lifting the hand that supported her to let it rest in her hair.

"Yes?" she inquired, as she started undoing the laces keeping the vest together.

"Nothing, just Kassandra…" he smiled. His eyes still filled with a look of amusement and tenderness.

And then she was not afraid anymore.

Her mouth found the soft skin where his arm met his chest and sucked at it carefully. The reaction, a low hiss between his teeth, sent bolts of electricity down her body.

"I have been afraid," she told him, reaching up to trace the line of his chin with her lips. "I don't want to be afraid anymore. I really need to know if you want me."

Looking surprised, he sat up and took her head in both hands. While he looked at her, so intensely she almost blushed, she wondered if he wanted her to say something, but before she could he leaned down and his lips caught her. Answering the kiss she twisted the vest off his shoulders and smiled against his lips when he wriggled his arms out of it.

"I want you," he whispered, letting her go again. "I will not hurt you. Just love."

Cassandra nodded, hoping he would take the hint and continue to take the initiative.

He lowered his head again, and started caressing her neck with his mouth, while his hands carefully worked on getting her shirt of. For every button he opened there was a new patch of skin to taste and explore. Cassandra moaned silently, feeling like a piece of land that was being discovered and marked as his territory.

The two last buttons gave in as strong hand, too exited to be patient, tore at the shirt. The fabric complained with a tearing sound as he pulled it of her and threw it into the branches behind them.

"Kass said it would not work on her," Jah'ren smiled quietly against her shoulder before sucking at the soft skin where it met her neck. "Kass say I no charming and it not work on her."

"That is a long time ago," she protested, wanting to tell him this was not the time to be teasing, not being able to keep from teasing back. "It changed. And you said romance was stupid. You said troll love was all about dragging each other back to the cave and making babies. I don't think there was anything in there about careful kisses and waiting until the other part got the nerve to do something."

He answered with a growl and sank his teeth into her neck. Her body arched up against him, while his hands grabbed her, dragging her closer.

"Jah'ren," she moaned, feeling the adrenaline from the pain and the pleasure fill her body.

Next thing she knew she was laying on the grass, his large frame on top of her, muscles shivering and tensed beneath blue skin. His mouth moved over her skin, more eager now, his tongue licking and teeth leaving small red marks here and there. Two long arms held her body firmly between them, not letting her move at all.

Cassandra managed to get her arms free, but did not get hold of anything but his hair as he moved his head down to kiss her stomach. Large hands started roaming her upper body, making her gasp as they touched her breasts, before going down to his head and sliding along the lining of her trousers. Burying her hands in the green, long hair she moaned loudly when feeling his tongue following his hands as he started pulling at her pants.

She stirred beneath him as he moved his lips to her hip, and then he bit down on the soft skin. Cassandra squeaked and pulled on his hair to make him let go, but he only caught more of the sensitive skin and closed his mouth and teeth on it. He did not let go before she grabbed his ear and pulled at it, knowing he hated that.

The smirk on his face when he sat back on his heels made her laugh.

"Bad troll," she growled with a grin, rubbing the sore skin at her hip. "No chewing!"

Grinning, he stood up and looked down at her excitedly. As she met his gaze he began opening the straps on his leather wristband before discarding them. The belt on his pants went the same way and as he started loosening his pants he smiled at the expectant look he got from her.

Cassandra had seen him naked before, but that was not the point. It had never been like this; he was showing off his body, giving it to her, marking it as her territory by letting her look at him this way. He was showing both dominance and submission at the same time, and she found it more thrilling than anything she had ever seen.

The light from the fire danced over lean muscle, like sunlight on the bright morning sky. It was reflected in the emerald glow of the eyes watching her, the shadows it cast in his hair moving like dancers in tall grass. It lighted his features, making her realize just how much she treasured that unique grin he had, the corners of his mouth somewhat crooked where his tusks should have been.

Everything he was suddenly became manifested in the flicker of night and fire on his skin. Cassandra could almost hear the troll drums, she could feel the rhythm of the dance. Standing there he was wild, graceful but ferocious. She could see everything untamed in his soul, and at the same time she saw the animal she had put a leash on, the wild thing she had tamed.

Her body got to its feet on its own accord and her hands unbuttoned the pants, letting them slide down her legs together with her underwear, her skin finding pleasure in the chilly night air.

When he came up to her she could seen how the rhythm moved his muscle, making him walk almost on his toes, sending ripples through the strong arms that wrapped around her.

"I can hear it," she told him in a whisper. "I can hear your dance."

Again that jagged grin filled her with electricity, and as his body moved against her, she really could hear it; the wild, rough rhythm of his life.

******

On the other side of the island, which was, considering the size of the island, not really very far away, two pairs of sensitive ears listened.

Hetar smiled at the moans and sighs from the cove, hearing the same rhythm in two voices, one bright and clear, one low and growling.

Turning to her mate she found a happy smirk on his face.

"If Cassandra was not so shy I would have gone over to watch," she chuckled in their own language. "It reminds me so much of that time on the beach… when you finally got around to making me yours."

The priest let one hand run down her naked body.

"Why go over there when you can have another go at my wonderful jungle love right here?" he asked, winking cleverly.


	4. Her man

YAY New chapter! You have to forgive me for inventing ideas about the wow-world, but things just pop into my head as I read, and if they don't match the real history I try to adapt it. So if you want it to be awfully correct, you'll just have to forgive me, but I write from my mind ;)

****

The sun woke Cassandra the following morning. Sitting up, she noticed just how stiff her muscles were, like after a hard workout. She smiled to herself and looked down at the body beside her. Jah'ren was sleeping soundly, snoring a little and with one arm behind his head.

Ba'ka was sitting by the fireplace, and the twinkle in his eyes as they met Cassandra's made her blush a little. The priest threw her the clothes that in the heat of the moment had been discarded all over the camp.

After dressing, Cassandra came to sit beside him by the fire, feeling the chill of morning bite into her skin as she left the warmth of her lover and their blankets.

"Good night?" the priest asked with his usual happy smile.

Cassandra nodded, blushing again.

"We hear yo'," Ba'ka continued, apparently oblivious of her reddening cheeks. "We hear yo' good. We have good night too."

"That's nice," Cassandra managed, looking over at the shape sleeping beneath the blankets, and for the first time she though of him as _her man_. "There's something nagging at my mind…" she told the priest quietly.

"Nagging? Like eating yo' brain?"

"Yes, something like that," she giggled, before getting straight to the point: "The first day you said something about you taking Jah'ren back… What did you mean?"

"Oh, dat," Ba'ka scratched his chin, taking a quick look at Hetar to see if she was awake yet. "Yea, dat…"

Cassandra put her hand on top of his and looked seriously at him.

"You heard us last night. You know I love him. He is _my _man, my mate. Where he goes I go too. Please tell me."

The priest lowered his head and when he finally talked it was in a whisper:

"Chief is died. Tribe no leader. Hetar say: We go get Jah'ren. He is only troll with… difficult word… right… to lead tribe. We go."

"And then you were taken slaves by the humans?"

"Yea, in end, yea. Taken by human, work in salt mine. Many, many time."

"And she still wants to taken Jah'ren back to the tribe? Isn't that a bit late now. I bet someone else has taken over."

"No, no," the priest shook his head rapidly. "No other troll right to lead. Only Jah'ren, or someone fight Jah'ren and take right."

"So he could be challenged for the chiefhood, but it can't be taken by anyone?"

"Yea, dat is troll way."

A snort from beside them made them both jump and turn.

"I not go back!" the greenhaired troll snarled. His eyes were gleaming dangerously.

Cassandra started to move towards him, but before she could his sister barked something in trollish. Over the next minutes all the two sitting by the fire could do was to listen as the brother and sister argued in their own language.

In the end Jah'ren stood up shouting:

"No, not more! Me never go back. Kassandra is Jah'ren's home."

She went to his side then and put her arm possessively around his waist. Hetar grunted angrily before she turned and hurried out through the branches.

Cassandra almost went after the troll, but her mate stopped her.

"She always like this when loose argument," he smiled.

"Yea," Ba'ka agreed. "Wait. See. Hetar come back soon, nice again."

To Cassandra's surprise Hetar was in a good mood when she returned. She took Jah'ren's hand in hers and sighed deeply, but said nothing. As Jah'ren put his other hand on his sister's head, Cassandra understood that there would be no more arguments to whether or not Jah'ren was going back.

Later, as she and Hetar were alone by the fire, Cassandra asked about something she had been thinking of all morning.

"Since you are Jah'ren's sister, can't you just lead the tribe yourself?"

Hetar laughed and shook her head.

"It not work that way."

"But you could challenge him for the chiefhood, couldn't you?"

"I would have to kill him," Hetar said, wrinkling her brows.

"No, you wouldn't," Cassandra smiled cleverly. "He's not going back, so nobody would know if you just said you had killed him."

There was a humorous twinkle in the female troll's eyes:

"I have to bring his head. And then what I do with the tribe? Me and Ba'ka are tired of their war. After the tribe joined with the Horde things have changed. We live outside now."

Cassandra sighed, a little out of pity, a little out of relief.

"But if Jah'ren went back," she thought aloud. "He could lead the tribe and take them away from the Horde…"

"No," Hetar said quickly. "No, don't even think that. The tribe would be hunted. Every last troll killed. And you could not come there. No, better let things be like they will be. I once thought that way too, but then the Sandrock trolls left the Horde."

"What happened to them?"

"They used to be part of the Darkspear kin, as our tribe is, but when they left the Horde Thrall sent out his orcs, and no more Sandrock."

Cassandra wrinkled her nose, thinking to herself that the Alliance would probably have handled something like that in a similar way, but not willing to admit it out loud. Instead she asked Hetar to explain the strange and confusing hierarchy of troll tribes and lower and higher chiefs.

A lot of lines in the sand later she regretted ever asking, even though it was rather fascinating.

"So, if I get this right," she said, following a crooked line with her index finger. "You and Jah'ren are Darkspear, and then comes the description which says where you live?"

"Yes," Hetar nodded. "We are jungle dwellers."

"Only you haven't been living in a jungle for generations because of the wars?"

"Yes, our tribe has taken refuge in Durotar, protected by Thrall and his people."

"And the branch of the tribe you belong to is called the Silver tusks?"

She knew it probably sounded a lot better in trollish, and probably made a lot more sense too, because although she could not tell from Jah'ren's tusks, Hetar's did not seem any different from all the other tusks she had seen.

"In your language, yes," Hetar smiled. "And Ba'ka is Tall-fish tribe, island dwellers."

"But they are also Darkspear?" Cassandra ventured, hoping she was getting it right.

"Yes! You understand!" The troll was obviously thrilled that she had understood the explanation, something Cassandra was less sure of that she really had.

"Why is the tribe called Tall fish?"

"They are taller than many other troll. And they are fishers. Tall-fish."

In Cassandra's mind that made no more sense than all the complicated lines Hetar had drawn connecting the different branches of troll tribes.

"He's not taller than Jah'ren," she said just as the two males came towards them. "He's actually smaller…"

Hetar looked at her in wonder before turning to her mate and shouting something.

Ba'ka stretched his back, straightening out from the constantly crouched way he walked.

"Oh," Cassandra said, her eyes going wide in surprise. "Well, that's tall!"

***

That evening, while sitting by the fire eating, Hetar and Ba'ka had a quiet conversation. Cassandra noticed Jah'ren was listening, and just as she opened her mouth to ask what was being said, he leaned down to her to explain.

"They talk about friends. Want to go rescue friends."

"The tribe?" she asked surprised.

"No, friends in slave camp." Jah'ren was still watching the other couple intensely. "Friends that will not be part of war anymore, but Allies do not care. Hetar and Ba'ka will go save them."

The look he gave her told her exactly what was on his mind even though he would not say it out loud.

"Yes," Cassandra smiled. "We'll help."


	5. Taking the mines

The salt mines the _Jones and Sons Company_ ran were only a couple of days' journey from the sanctuary on the island.

Hetar explained how the Company supplied the Alliance with salt and money, getting free labour in return whenever there were raids on Horde settlements or the Allies took prisoners of war.

"I have seen so many die in mines," she told Cassandra while they walked through the rain. "If me and Ba'ka had not found friends who helped we would have been dead too. We can not leave them."

Cassandra though back to the tale she had heard about the night they had tried to escape: Ba'ka had been the only one to get away safely, and he had turned back when Hetar was captured. While she had been sent to prison to be hanged as an example, he had watched many of the slaves being killed, or a hand or fingers cut off as a lesson. There had been a flash of rage in Jah'ren's eyes as he heard this and Cassandra almost hoped the slavers would have the sense to keep out of his way.

***

The salt mines were nothing more than a large hole in the ground, paths going up and down between the veins of precious mineral in the earth. From where Hetar and Cassandra was laying in the cover of some small bushes they could clearly see the workers, going too and fro some large machines standing on little ledges.

"That is machine for putting earth with salt into," Hetar explained in a whisper. "When full it goes up to building," she pointed to a barn in the distance. "And salt comes out."

Cassandra felt disgusted by what she saw. The workers were awfully thin and ragged, and the foremen watching them had whips and weapons.

"At night they go to bottom of mine," Hetar continued. "We tried escaping at night, but too many guards. Now we will try in day."

A couple of minutes later Jah'ren returned, walking so silently they did not notice him before he spoke.

"Twenty guards," he told them, smiling proudly to Cassandra.

"How much is twenty?" she asked, knowing he had problems with numbers.

"Hands and feet two time and feet one more."

She nodded pleased after quickly doing the maths.

"And how many foremen?" his sister asked, not taking her eyes from what both workers and guards referred to as "the pit".

"Many," was the answer. "I see many, could not count."

The two females looked at each other, forcing their smiles away. No matter how funny Jah'ren's problems with counting were, the fact that he had not been able to count them was no joke.

When Ba'ka came back he had no good news either. Drawing in the dusty, dry ground behind their shelter in the shrubbery he explained how the guards were positioned.

"He says there's about a whipman for every three worker," Hetar explained when her mate had made his report. "That's more than they had when we were here. They must have got new guards too. There were never twenty."

"How can we fight fifty people or more?" Cassandra asked, already knowing the answer.

"Really good," Jah'ren grinned.

***

They spent the most of the day planning and scouting the mine, even though the two siblings were more than ready to throw themselves at the enemy. Ba'ka and Cassandra tried explaining to them that the odds were so much against them that a little bit of tactics would be smart, but Jah'ren plainly ruined all their arguments with a simple statement:

"When fight, fight. Not think."

From their time in the mine, the two trolls remembered when the guards used to change and decided to strike some hours before that would happen in the evening. Hetar, being a rogue and also excellent with machinery was set on the task of sneaking in to destroy one of the two battle machines the Company had.

Cassandra waited under the bushes together with Jah'ren while the two other trolls moved to the opposite side of the pit. She was feeling nervous, and her hands were clasped around her her annoyance Jah'ren did not seem to be the least bit scared by the fact that they were about to assault a small army. Instead the prospect of a good fight was exciting him enough to make it annoy her. He was humming out of tune by her ear, capturing her earlobe between lips and teeth from time to time, hands cuddling her hair and face.

"Sweety," she whispered, untangling his fingers from her braid. "I do love you, but if you cannot be a little bit serious about this I think I am going to stab you."

He laughed, short and rumbling, and kissed her neck affectionately.

Then the smile disappeared quickly as a sound reached their ears, a short birdcall telling them it was time. Crawling over the ground they left the safety of the cover and moved closer to the pit. Jah'ren had calculated he could managed to take down at least four guards before they would realize what was going on, and held several arrows between his teeth to be ready to fire them quickly.

The second call came, and both knew what it meant, readying their weapons.

Jah'ren went up on one knee, pulling back the bowstring, when Cassandra stopped him.

"Wait," she told him. "Just wait one second…"

She took in the sight of the guards, the workers and the machines, and deep in her mind something fell into place, killing her doubt, replacing her nervousness with cold intention.

"Now," she whispered. "Shoot."

He did, and the first guard fell. Before anyone could even react another guard was shot, one of the red-tailed arrows going almost through both breastplate and body.

Cassandra let her own arrow fly, rejoicing inside as one of the foremen tumbled forward. Beside her, Jah'ren let off two arrows for every one she did, and now they could hear the sound of fighting from the other side of the pit, where Hetar should have managed to destroy one of their machines.

A quick look assured Cassandra that everything was going according to plan as she saw both the smoke from the machine and Ba'ka, who stood in the middle of a lot of people running in uncontrollable fear.

The last time there had been an uprising, when Ba'ka had escaped, the slaves had been certain there were enough of them to overpower the guards and foremen despite their weapons. They had been proved wrong. The slaves had been too weak, too poorly organised and their pickaxes and shovels were no use against guns and bows.

This time, as more and more of the prisoners noticed there were guards going down a shout went up from the mine, sharing the fact that there was someone attacking from without.

Then, without plan or warning, the pit erupted.

As Cassandra and Jah'ren went into close combat with several guards, a wall of prisoners rose over the edge of the mine, a roar of voices and the rattle of their chains drowning every sound. The man Cassandra was fighting was suddenly picked up and she winched as an enormous Tauren broke his back with a satisfied shout.

A shovel came rushing towards her, but was stopped by Jah'ren's swords as he tried to yell something over the racket. The orc with the shovel stared at her a short second, before he turned away to find someone else to bang over the head.

"Kass! Stay close!" she heard Jah'ren cry through the din, and moved to his side as the last of the guards they had been fighting fell over, broken and battered by the mob of angry slaves.

She knew she had to stay close to him to be safe. To the freedom-hungered slaves she was just another human. The protective arm around her waist and the angry bark from her lover whenever someone came after her kept her safer than daggers and bow would.

They fought on the edge of the pit, where one of the two roads from below met the surface. The slaves were more in numbers than the guards and foremen, and they were fighting for their lives and their freedom. There was a brutality and rage in the mob that scared Cassandra. Bodies were torn apart and thrown into the pit, screams of pain and despair filled the air, making her dizzy and wanting to close her ears.

Soon the last survivors of the Company ran for their lives, leaving behind some foremen that were now trapped down in the hole by the slaves above. As the crowd of raging slaves ran after the humans trying to get away, a slim, pale hand shot forward and pulled Cassandra out of Jah'ren's arms.

Stumbling forward she saw only a glimpse of the face before her, but it turned her stomach to ice. Eyes shining with arcane power glowed in malice from within a beautiful face.

Cassandra twisted out of the bloodelf's grip at the same time as a sword from behind her pierced his throat. He went down on his knees, clutching at the hole left by the blade.

"We go! Now!"

Jah'ren did not need to repeat himself and Cassandra pulled away from the mob, realizing it was all over.

The barn where the salt was distilled was already burning brightly, and the machines were being tipped over and beaten until they stopped moving.

"Gods," Cassandra swore, making sure her weapons were ready to fight in case the mob would turn on them. "They're just machines, but they attack them as if they want to kill them."

"They die." Jah'ren grabbed her elbow to make her hurry.

She took one more look behind them and heard the whine of broken machinery and saw the oil spilling from the metal bodies.

"Yes, they die," she agreed in a shivering whisper.

They met up with the two other trolls on the other side of the pit where they were standing with a small group of freed prisoners. As Cassandra came up to them four pairs of eyes turned to her, filled with hate.

She returned the looks with her head held high, knowing the short message the priest barked at them concerned her.

Two Tauren, one male and one female as far as she could tell, was watching her intensely before they both nodded simultaneously.

The other two in the group was both female, and both bloodelves. Cassandra unconsciously tried to stand straighter and brush some dirt and blood off her clothes while looking at them. The smallest gave her a short smile, but the other just met her gaze with distrust and hate.

"We are not everyone," Hetar silently explained. "We lost sight of the two others in the fight and we don't want to split up and risk loosing anyone else in this chaos."

Cassandra nodded while noticing that some of the freed slaves had begun dragging the bodies of screaming foremen up the roads from the mine.

The biggest Tauren suddenly pointed to the edge of the pit and made the others turn their heads.

Up the road came a shaggy figure, both clothes and skin torn and dirty. Cassandra had seen a few of the forsaken before, and they always made her ill at ease.

This one was no better to look at than most of them, both skin and hair coloured a sickly green and bones showing through rotting flesh here and there. He, because even after death you could mostly manage to decide between the two alternatives, was dragging one foot slightly and in his arms he carried a smaller figure.

As he came close to them Cassandra saw it was another forsaken, this one female and dressed in robes. He limped up to them and his contorted features conveyed a worry words could not have done.

Cassandra watched the two undead, feeling a chill go down her spine, when Jah'ren touched her shoulder and whispered:

"We need to go. There be trouble here soon."

***

The rather strange group hid in trench between some stones that night. Cassandra listened to strange new languages and soft moaning as wounds were washed and bandaged as well as was possible in the dark.

Ba'ka was paying attention the female forsaken, who sat supported against the rockface while her mute friend limped around trying to make a small shelter over her from branches and leaves. When the priest asked Cassandra to come help him she hesitated a little before obeying.

"No danger," Ba'ka assured her. "Only sick."

The dead, sunken eyes of the woman looked up at the girl, seeing the disgust in her face all too well.

"I did not know undead could be ill."

Cassandra swallowed, trying to ignore the strange smell the two gave off.

To her surprise it was the small figure between them that answered.

"Our brains may be rotting, but they still know what pain and hunger and frost and sickness feels like. They make our bodies remember how to be human."

Cassandra stared shocked at her, realizing the woman spoke the language perfectly.

"Do not look so scared, young one," the woman's voice was dry, like old dust. "I once was human. I once was young and pretty like you. I once was alive. Some of us still remember."

A hand, thin and wrinkled like old cloth, touched Cassandra's arm and a bony digit gently tapped her skin.

"You have blood on you, girl. Go wash. And please do not call us undead. It upsets my husband."

Looking up at the other forsaken Cassandra felt ashamed of her words. There was something soft inside those eyes as he watched his wife being cured, something she recognized.

Mumbling an apology she went over to where Jah'ren was trying to break the chains that held the male Tauren's hands together.

"Mana-shackles," Hetar told her.

She had a more delicate approach to the matter than her brother. Instead of trying to break the metal with a pickaxe, she had bended a piece of metal thread and was trying to pick the lock on the shackles.

"Keeps them from using magic," she continued, smiling victorious as the lock finally gave in.

The female Tauren rubbed her wrists, before moving to let the bloodelves have their shackles removed.

Cassandra felt left out and useless as she watched the nine others help and care for each other. In the end she found shelter beneath a patch of moss which made a small roof where it hung out over the rock where she curled up, trying to ignore the feeling of loneliness sneaking into her mind.

She was almost asleep when arms lifted her body and she was placed in Jah'ren's lap. In the silence of the darkness she snuggled up to him and listened to his heartbeat as it filled her with his rhythm and drove away every bad feeling.

****

Actually, this is our guild. The one Jah'ren belongs to. The two bloodelves have been written before, in another story, but the rest of them wanted in on the fun. All the characters are mine and my man's, and I made up their stories long ago, but I never came around to writing them down. There will possibly be a bit of looking back at their past lives in the next chapter. I just don't know what happens next.


	6. A new tribe

They relocated to another hideout the following day, going north towards the mountains. Ba'ka, having the brain for geography, led the way while Jah'ren, who was the best scout, ran ahead to find them a safe path.

Cassandra ended up walking at the back of the group together with the two forsaken and the male Tauren. She had been very surprised to find that he also spoke common rather well, but he made it obvious that he did not desire a conversation, at least not with her, and they walked in silence.

As the day passed they could feel the chill in the air increasing. Just some days ago they had been in the southern lands, on the island, and even though there had been autumn in the air there too it was nothing against the cold wind that blew towards them from the north.

"I can smell winter ahead," Cassandra told Jah'ren as they were resting a little.

The troll was sitting on a branch just high enough for him to dangle his legs.

"Yes," he agreed. "We go to the cold."

She did not ask why they were going north, because she knew the answer. They would cross the mountains of Dun Morogh and get as far away from the Alliance capital as they could. There was no guarantee that the north held better things than the south, but at the moment it was the Alliance who hunted them, and their grip would not be so strong once the mountains were behind them.

"Dwarfs up there," Hetar said with a shudder. "I never like dwarfs."

"Make good soup…" Ba'ka said, looking dreamily into the distance.

Everyone in the group who had understood what he said look at him a little shocked, and Cassandra had a feeling of déjà vu, thinking of fried goblins and gnolls.

"Any good cooked?" she heard her lover ask, and smashed her fist into his knee.

"What?" Jah'ren laughed. "I only ask. Not going to eat… If find other food."

"You'd better not," Cassandra warned him. "Or I am never going to kiss you again."

Their little squabble was interrupted by Ba'ka who reminisced aloud about the strange dwarf he had met travelling the jungle when he was young, who apparently had made the most amazing soup out of roots and berries, a couple of raptors, fish-heads, twigs and bark, as well as something sticky he had found at the bottom of his pocket.

"I neva taste soup like dat again," the priest smiled. "Made me head hurt six days."

"Oh!" Cassandra exclaimed. "It must be something like Jah'ren's gumbo. Just wait until he gets hold of some crocolisks and you can be certain you'll have the experience all over again."

She ducked to avoid the hand she knew would be coming to slap the back of her head and hid behind Hetar until Jah'ren had stopped laughing.

***

As they walked on, Cassandra again took her place in the back of the group upon Jah'ren's orders.

"Tell if anyone come after us," he said.

Even the fact that he was patting her head like she was a good dog did not reduce the pride she felt because of the trust he showed her.

After the rest and the fooling around and laughing it seemed that the male Tauren had warmed up to Cassandra and he made an attempt at a conversation by talking about the weather. When that subject came to an end he said nothing more for miles, but from time to time he raised a hand to scratch his chin in thought.

By dinnertime the jagged shapes of mountains they had been walking towards all day was right before them. Cassandra had never seen mountains so tall, rising to the sky, dressed in clouds and snow.

Jah'ren found them a campsite under some pines at the foot of the massive mountains where they were safe enough to make a fire. As everyone went about the business of finding firewood and scraping together what little food they had, the feeling of loneliness that had been nagging Cassandra all day disappeared. The knowledge that they were in this together, for better or for worse, comforted her.

Even though she longed for the days when it had been just her and Jah'ren, she had begun to appreciate the company of his sister and the priest, and now the strange little tribe had grown even larger.

Once they had split the last of the food between them the group settled down for the night, crowding around the fire to find the reassuring comfort of warmth and company. Cassandra sat between Jah'ren's legs while studying the faces lit by the flickering flames.

Hetar and Ba'ka were both busying themselves with different tasks that needed doing. The priest was mending clothes while his mate tried to fix a somewhat broken gun she had salvaged from after the fight in the pit.

Beside them the two Tauren sat in silence, holding hands and leaning sleepily against each other.

As Cassandra looked at the bloodelves the paladin stared back, her strange eyes watching and warning. The way that the two pretty creatures clung to each other had first made Cassandra think them sisters, but a quiet conversation with Hetar had quickly assured her she was wrong, and also made her blush.

The two forsaken, their ragged faces tired and worn, had found what comfort they could in each other, bony hands holding on to each other as their lives, or deaths, depended on it.

Hetar, who always was in the mood for conversation, was telling the others about how she and Cassandra had met and been rescued.

Jah'ren was translating for Cassandra, and when his sister came to the part about the island, he just laughed and said:

"You not want to know what she say."

As Hetar's story came to an end, she urged the rest of the party to tell something about themselves as well. Nobody seemed inclined to reply to the invitation at first, but then the smallest of the bloodelves started speaking.

The warlock told of their homeland, the Sunwell and how they always had felt strangers to the rest of their race.

"Magic keep us apart," Jah'ren translated, struggling to find the correct words to explain it to Cassandra. "The elfsies are eated by magic and very alone."

Hetar leaned over and whispered by Cassandra's ear:

"The elfsies are corrupted by arcane magic, and they are very individual, they have other kinds of bonds, more like masters and slaves, people who are rich and poor."

Cassandra was watching the two beautiful girls, the way their hands held onto the other's, the way the paladin always seemed ready to leap and fight, the friendly and curious smile of the warlock.

"What are their names?" she asked Hetar, who changed language again and addressed the two elves.

"I be Talandriel," the warlock smiled, struggling to get her tongue around the words of a language that compared to her own was just grunts and noises. "Friend be Silvanya."

Cassandra returned the smile, feeling a chill down her spine when meeting the paladin's eyes.

As the tale continued she started to understand what lay behind that angry and distrusting gaze.

She listened as Hetar and Jah'ren interpreted the story of the two young girls, driven from their families and home because of a choice of partner. Talandriel explained that it was not because they were both girls, but because Silvanya was so far below the status of the warlock's family that they had been cast out. When she was finished Silvanya kissed her cheek affectionately while whispering in the soft, singing tones of the elves.

The next one who decided to talk was the female mage, Lirlith. Cassandra had earlier exchanged a few words with the forsaken, but had not gotten a lot of response since the woman still was weak and ill. The only thing she had learned about the two was their names and the fact that the man could not talk.

"Gorgoloth and me," the woman said in common, a courtesy to Cassandra that was repaid with a happy smile. "We lived in a small village, by a sea. We remember not more from that time. I think maybe there were little ones. And maybe not. It is so long past."

She gave her husband a pained smile as he closed his scrawny, withering arms around her slight frame.

"There were sick people. We were afraid, and then; nothing but darkness. An empty, cold darkness. But one day, one strange day I opened my eyes again. I found a place in the city of Sylvanas, embracing the frost I felt inside, turning it into a weapon of magic. I wanted to help fight this sickness, this curse that fell upon the world!"

Lirlith coughed as her body protested against the excitement of her words.

"Then," she continued as the spasm expired. "They brought so many of the controlled ones, the undead without a free will, into the city, to study them in search of a cure. And suddenly I was looking into eyes I had known a long time ago, and I found my husband there among the lost ones. I had no choice; I begged on my knees before the dark Lady to help him, and my prayers were heard. Since then we have served and searched for truth and wisdom among the other races. That was the only order the Lady gave; "Go, and find peace." She told us to look for the cure, because one day, if enough is searching, one day someone will find a light in the darkness and it can give us hope."

Exhausted from talking, the mage fell back in her husbands arms and closed her eyes. A hand with almost no skin left on it touched her withered hair with more affection than words could express. Cassandra felt her eyes filling with tears, moved by the story and the fact that the love the two of them had for each other had survived even death and still blossomed in this strange new life.

For some time there was a heavy silence around the fire as everyone thought about the curse of the Scourge and what it had caused of pain and grief.

Then the last tale of the night was started by a whisper and a snorted laughter from the Taurens. It was a tale about friendship, nature, curiosity and the love for life, told by Garam, the wise and serious druid, and constantly interrupted by Mimisa, the good-natured and slightly clumsy warrior.

Cassandra listened through a mind hazed by tiredness and her own unconscious purring as Jah'ren stroked her neck.

She pictured the wide valleys in Garam's tale, the Kodo of the Barrens, the eagles of the mountains. His words, even through her two translators, painted images so vivid to her imagination she could almost reach out and touch the Tauren elders where they sat in their tents; smoking big pipes and teaching the calves about the way of nature.

In her mind she ran with the younglings, learning about the wind and the water, the earth and the rain. She longed for that place, even knowing she probably would never be allowed to see it.

"Then we left," Hetar translated. "To see the world and experience all its people and places and wonders. But we still carry the plains in our heart, in our steps we feel the earth, in our breath we smell the air."

"That is the most wonderful thing I ever heard," Cassandra thought, not noticing she was thinking out loud. "I never knew Tauren were so wonderful."

"Thank you," Garam said, smiling as Cassandra yawned and fell asleep with her head in Jah'ren's large palm.

****

I'm trying to be true to the geography today... And I have no idea why they're going north, but Jah'ren told me they were, and I think it's logical in his mind, so let's just see where it takes them. :D

And yes, they are all in couples, because that is the way we play. My man and I always makes a couple of a race and level them together, so since this is our guild, that's the way it is. Besides; there's too little love in the world!

xD


	7. The blizzard

Two week's journey into the mountains they had the worst weather yet. It started as a howling in the wind that went through their clothes and stung their skin. By midday the snow was coming down too thick to see anything, and Hetar quickly decided they would have to find somewhere to hide from the blizzard they all could sense coming.

While Garam and Ba'ka dug frantically in under a cliff projecting from the snow, the rest of the group broke of branches from the trees nearby, taking whatever that would possibly burn.

Cassandra stood watching the snow pummel down around them, and her heart was a cold stone in her chest.

"He will find us," Hetar comforted, placing her hand on Cassandra's shoulder. "He is the best hunter."

Cassandra nodded, still not taking her eyes from the white curtain, trying to spot a shape moving through it, but there was nothing.

He had not yet returned when they all crowded into the small cave the snow made under the cliff roof. They all knew all tracks would have snowed away by now, but nobody dared say it aloud.

As night fell the blizzard was roaring like a lion right outside the cave, making the small fire Lirlith had managed to get going flicker and threaten to die.

Without warning Cassandra jumped to her feet and ran out in the storm. The kneedeep snow slowed her down and Hetar grabbed her only a couple of meters away from the opening. As the female troll dragged her back to the others Cassandra screamed and tried hitting at her friend to make her let go.

"Hush," Hetar comforted while she and Ba'ka held the girl between them. "He is smart and will find shelter. You not find him running out in the snow and dying."

Cassandra cried herself into an uneasy sleep, waking from time to time to look around her only to find the long arms that held her belonged to the priest and not Jah'ren.

The weather was no better in the morning, but Garam and Mimisa dared a quick trip out to steal some more branches from the trees. Coming back they informed the others silently that they would have to save whatever firewood they had as it would be almost impossible to get more the way the blizzard was growing in strength.

Cassandra did not understand most of their words, but she got the meaning all the same and started crying again, because she could not find anything else to do. After watching her in though for a while Talandriel came over and whispered something to Hetar. The two of them talked quietly and from what little Cassandra heard she understood it was about Jah'ren.

"We will try to find him," Hetar told her in the end.

Cassandra shook her head at once, she knew it would be suicide for anyone to leave the cave right now.

"Not going out," the troll assured her. "We will use magic, Talandriel's magic, and Ba'ka and me can use old troll magic. You need to help."

"I'll do anything," Cassandra said, looking up at the worried faces around her. "I'll do anything if it can get him here."

There was a lot of ritual to the magic the two trolls prepared. Cassandra willingly let Hetar cut her hand and watched in sickened fascination as the blood ran into a bowl. Ba'ka healed the wound before using the blood to paint symbols on a crumpled parchment.

Then Cassandra was told to kneel by the fire, which Lirlith kept burning brightly. The warlock and priest chanted a lot and although Cassandra did not understand anything of it she could both see and feel it was doing something. The flames were burning with a blue hue, and a strange sound building up inside her, like the distant echo of drums.

Hetar placed her hands on Cassandra's shoulders, sitting behind her, and whispered:

"You find the right rhythm. Look at the flames and make them sing."

Cassandra had no idea what she was supposed to do, or how, but she stared into the flames, trying to listen to the beating of her heart and that strange sound in her mind.

When Ba'ka gave her a bowl of some dark, sticky liquid to drink she did, too worried about her lover out there in the snow to be afraid. The drink tasted strongly of blood with a hint of the liquorice-like flavour of the black stick and it almost made her throw up.

Swallowing again and again to get the syrupy fluid down she heard the priest ask for more power to be channelled into the flames. She did not really understand why the flames was so important, but when she looked up, her head beginning to spin a little, she knew exactly what to do.

The cave instantly was filled with a warmth that started melting through the thick layer of ice-crusted snow outside. A warmth overflowing with the slightly electric feeling of magic, sparks of pure power flying from the flames.

Cassandra stared at two figures dancing in the fire, one tall and scrawny with long arms which held the smaller figure close. She wondered if she was the only one who saw the shape the flames took, the only one who heard the deafening beat of the drums.

The strange warmth that radiated up from her stomach was filling her body with fire, making her feel strong and powerful. Closing her eyes she felt a part of her own being fall forward into the flames and take its place in the dance.

She felt the flames on her skin, the burning sensation of passion and need, and then, for a short moment, she heard a whisper and another rhythm join the beat.

Something cold as ice touched her face and she opened her eyes with a scream.

The fire screamed with her before dying down. Cassandra lay at the cold snow floor, panting and shivering.

No one spoke for a long time, but Hetar cradled the girl in her arms until the shivering went away.

"I think you reached him," she said eventually, looking at the walls of snow at the entrance, now almost blasted through by sheer power. "We could all feel it."

Everyone nodded and Cassandra blushed, embarrassed to have let them take part in that very personal part of her life. She smiled thankfully to the mage and warlock, who seemed to have used all their strength to control the wild magic she had let out.

Tired and hopeful they all huddled together in silence, all eyes looking out into the blinding white of the snow.

***

Hours passed slowly, the fire burning down to mere cinders when the mage no longer had strength to keep it going. Cassandra had forced her eyes away from the entrance to their shelter when they stared to water from looking into the storm. Her head was ringing with the aftershock of the magic and the strange drink. When she had asked the priest about the drink he had told her it was a secret.

"There was blood in it," Cassandra had said, feeling nauseous. "And it tasted like the black stick Jah'ren likes so well."

"Yea," the priest admitted. "Yo blood."

"The Black root help the brain open up to magic," Hetar explained. "Everything else is secret. Troll magic. Ancient magic."

"Voodoo." Cassandra shuddered.

The trolls did not comment on this, but they looked at each other and smiled sadly, both knowing they had broken a lot of rules and promises that day.

The endless whiteness outside had grown darker and suddenly there was a sound that made them all jump to their feet. Moments later they could see the shape of something at the entrance and Jah'ren stumbled in.

He was covered in snow from head to toes, and over his shoulders hung the carcass of a large deer.

"Kass," he smiled, falling down on his knees.

The deer fell from his grip as the little human threw herself into his embrace.

It felt like being hugged by a snowman. His hair was white from frost and snow and frozen so that it here and there hung in icicles around his face. His skin had a strange ice-white colour, being naturally blue and now covered by a thin layer of frozen snow. The arms holding her close was shaking and she could feel the tremble going through his entire body.

"Cold," he moaned through clattering teeth. "Me cold."

Cassandra got Garam and Ba'ka to help lift him over to the fire. The mage and warlock breathed new life into the embers while Hetar knelt beside her brother.

"Idiot," she said, rubbing the blood back into his hands.

"I bring food."

Every eye in the cave went to the frozen deer, every mind thinking the same thought and every face smiling.

"Idiot." This time it was Cassandra who said it. "You should have turned back when the blizzard began."

She was crushing the ice carefully out of his hair, one hand closed around the pointed part of his ear to warm it.

"I not find back," Jah'ren whispered, still shivering. "No more track. I hear Kass call, feel warm, I come."

He put his head in her lap and looked contently up into her face. There were tears on her cheeks and something soft in her gaze.

"I bring food," he said again, trying to make up for the distress he could see he had caused them.

"Yes, idiot," Cassandra said, placing her lips on his cold forehead. "You brought food."

*******

I wrote this yesterday and was uncertain if I wanted it to be a part of the story or not, since I could not decide if I really liked it. But then I read it to my man and he liked it, and today my wonderful friend KraeHi inspired me with her amazing art portraying Cass and Jah'ren (if you want to see, go to deviantart and check her gallery, she's very talented). So in the end I decided to upload this part too, but I really like the next chapter better, it is just not done yet. I'm working on it, and will be finished if Jah'ren and Cass stop making out in front of me for just one second.... :D


	8. White Dancer

The blizzard died out just as suddenly as it had appeared. The small tribe had to dig their way out of the cave, but when they stepped out in the snow they were pleasantly surprised to see that the sun was shining down from an almost clear sky.

After being trapped in the cave by the storm three full days they were all glad to move a little as well as tired and hungry. Although they needed to get over the mountains as fast as possible not one of them had the strength or motivation to walk very far.

By the time they found a place to make camp they had reached the far-stretching plateau which would lead them over the main part of Dun Morogh, past the city of Ironforge, and ultimately, to the other side of the mountains.

They all knew the highlands generally held better weather than the traitorous ridges and passes that lead to it, but there were other dangers up here. First there were the dwarfs who were loyal to the Alliance and could prove the worst enemy up here in their own mountains. Secondly there were the Frostmane trolls, who no one knew if would prove allies or enemies, and thirdly there were Troggs and bears and wolves and yeti.

The plateau was covered in small forests and several caves; most of them infected with the detestable Troggs or dwarven mines. The woods up here consisted entirely of evergreens like pine and firs, but just the sight of trees and the shelter they provided made the group feel better than in days.

It was still early when Hetar declared they were stopping to rest. Jah'ren and Cassandra were sent out to hunt while the others made camp, and the two hunters found their strength renewed by the chance of being together.

Bows at the ready they hurried through the snow-covered landscape, both silent and scouting for anything that would make a decent meal.

Cassandra shot the first rabbit and smiled proudly as Jah'ren drew two lines over her cheekbones with its blood.

"First kill," he said with the jagged smile she had missed so these last weeks. "My Kass is a huntress."

"You trained me well," she replied, feeling the warmth of his grin thawing her frozen body.

To the two hunter's surprise and joy the snowy plains and valleys held plenty game. The animals living up there were tough. Through generations they had adapted to the harsh climate and now they thrived.

After spending a couple of hours hunting Jah'ren had a dead boar and two rabbits dangling over his shoulder. Apart from the third rabbit, Cassandra had also shot a bird who had managed to fly over a cliff before it fell and they had not been able to climb down to it. Jah'ren had sent an arrow after it to keep it from suffering a slow death in the snow, and they had left it there for the wolves to eat.

They had just turned to go back to the others when Cassandra noticed something strange a little distance away. There was the carcass of a hog hanging in a tree and below it she noticed a lump in the snow.

"I know," Jah'ren said, shrugging. "Metal trap. I smell it. Dead animal."

He turned to walk away, but Cassandra was having a strange feeling she could not let go of, and carefully walked closer to the tree. There was a trap there, covered with snow, something white and bloody between the metal jaws.

As she came closer there came a hushed growling from something she had though a part of the snowy landscape. From the lump in the snow two yellow-green eyes were watching her angrily. She could see the mouth opening and closing, but the leopard was too weak to snarl properly.

"Kass!" Jah'ren warned.

He was kneeling in the snow, arrow ready and pointing at the beast.

"No," she told him calmly, raising one hand to tell him to back off. "Don't shoot."

She carefully brushed the snow away from the little body in the trap and looked at the other snow leopard with eyes full of compassion.

"It's her baby," she told the troll, who had not lowered his weapon. "It's dead, and she has stayed here to guard it."

From the look of it the whelp had been dead for days and the thick layer of snow over both leopards indicated it had been before the blizzard.

"Hey, sweety," Cassandra beckoned, moving a little closer to the growling animal. "Are you hungry?"

She offered the leopard the rabbit she had shot and was surprised when the beast carefully pulled it from her hand. Too starved to be afraid the leopard tried tearing at the dead rodent, but it proved too hard.

"I'll help," Cassandra said soothingly, ignoring the warning sounds coming from the troll.

The leopard continued to growl while Cassandra used the knife to gut the rabbit. Then she pulled out the heart, offering it to the beast, and smiled as she took it.

"Good girl," Cassandra praised, sorting out the eatable intestines and placing them in front of the leopard, before skinning the rodent and to cut out pieces of meat.

"When she get strong, she attack," Jah'ren said, still not taking his eyes of the beast a second in case his Cassandra would be in danger.

Cassandra did not bother to listen. She felt something she had never felt before when she looked at this beautiful creature laying there in the snow, half dead and pitiful.

"Good girl," she comforted, placing her hand carefully on the leopards head.

The animal growled, but was to busy eating to do anything. Cassandra started stroking her fur, pushing the snow off her body and trying to rub some warmth back in the frozen muscles, while talking soothingly.

When the leopard had no more food it snapped its jaws towards her, telling her it was regaining strength and wanted her to go away. Cassandra placed her hand around the cat's muzzle, keeping her mouth shut.

"No," she told the animal. "No biting. You get no more food if you bite."

To her amazement this seemed to calm the animal and the only threats she got while cutting up some more meat was the constant, low growling.

After the rabbit was gone the leopard stood up, shaking the snow off her fur. Her legs were wobbling and she still seemed too weak to do much, but at least she showed some will to live.

She bent down and sniffed at the small body in the trap. After pushing at it with her nose a few times she looked up at Cassandra.

"I know," the human told her, crouching down. "It's your puppy. But he's dead."

Jah'ren saw the muscles under the spotted fur tense for a moment and pointed the arrow at the spot where it would pierce the leopard's heart and kill it instantly. Ready to fire at the slightest sign of threat he watched the scene before him with a strange pride in his heart.

Cassandra showed no sign of fear. She looked the beast in the eyes and the leopard stared back.

Almost ten minutes passed before the snow leopard moved. Then she stretched her paws out in front of her and lay down before Cassandra. When the human touched her head she did not even growl.

"Come," Cassandra told her. "You can come with me."

***

Back at the camp the others were surprise to see the hunters bring a live leopard back. Jah'ren smiled proudly and put his arm around Cassandra's shoulder.

"This need celebration!" Hetar smiled. "Your first pet!"

Cassandra looked down at the snow white, spotted beast and realized that the troll was right. She had finally managed to find a pet, and it had chosen to follow her of its own free will.

Then the leopard snarled at Jah'ren as he grabbed Cassandra and tousled her hair with his hand.

"She is protecting you already," Hetar grinned.

Jah'ren sat down and growled back at the animal, who quickly understood that her new mistress also belonged to someone, and decided that challenging this tall, blue creature would probably be a very bad idea. She lay down to show she was submissive and Cassandra patted her head gently.

The leopard kept close to Cassandra while they ate and Hetar sent around the last bit of the black stick, which she had saved for a special occasion.

When they lay down to sleep the beast let Cassandra put an arm around her and as the night grew colder she gave in and snuggled up to the human to share the warmth she and the troll emitted.

***

The next morning, when they broke camp to follow a trail between the trees, the cat was much stronger. She kept as close to her human as she could, but while the day passed she became braver and even found the courage to hunt down a fat rodent they scared from its burrow.

Cassandra stroked and praised the leopard when she afterwards was presented with the prey. The cat sat down on her hind legs and seemed very pleased with being patted.

"Strange," Hetar laughed. "You must have some magic with animals, Cass. I have never seen a wild one be kind so quick."

Jah'ren was the only other in the group the leopard allowed stroking her, and she made it clear that she did not like him much, but obeyed because she knew Cassandra belonged to him.

"What you want to name her?" Hetar asked, moving her hand out of the way just as the beast snapped after it.

Cassandra shrugged, grabbing the leopard's muzzle and telling her biting was not approved of.

Some hours later she found a name when Jah'ren stopped and pointed towards the leopard that was chasing a string of snowcrystals the wind blew up. The leopard twirled and snapped after the white thread of crystals, going up on her hind legs.

"What would White Dancer be in Zandali?" she asked Jah'ren.

"Bel'Zari," he answered and grinned while the snow leopard tripped over her own feet and fell, completely out of strength.

"Bel'Zari," Cassandra smiled. "I like that."

*******

To everyone who speak some Zandali: I have no idea what Bel'Zari means! I have read a lot of Zandali these last days to find a name I could like, but there's not much to work from, so (since I am okey with languages myself, I made my own version, although I tried to stay true to Jah'ren's native language)

I wanted her to be called White Dancer, because that is her name, and I wanted it in Zandali. (but stupid blizzard has left very small clues for how to make your own Zandali words ;D)

So Bel is from Belo or Belij, meaning white in Russian, as far as I know. Russian is very difficult.

Zari is a special type of weaving method they use in India, and also the name for a Indian garment. It is also use about a golden thread used in the same weaving method. But I just liked the sound of the word, so in my mind it is a shortened for of the word that means dancing in Zandali.

Thus, White Dancer.

Oh, dang it. Never mind. She got a pet, right? Give her some applause!


	9. Don't Panic

They camped between some large rocks that evening, and for the second night in row they fed well on what unlucky animals had come too close to Jah'ren and his bow.

"You have to stop shooting everything that moves," Cassandra teased him. "We'll drown in meat."

The two Tauren had explained to the others several good ways to dry and smoke meat so it would keep for weeks, and with the sudden abundance of food they made sure that even if there was another blizzard they would not have to starve.

There was a new atmosphere in the little tribe now, a feeling of peace and companionship. They all knew the danger was far from over, but at the same time they had always lived in danger of something. Most of them had grown up with war and horrible things happening around them all the time, and they had learned to treasure the good moments of life. The nights by the campfire; friends around them, food in their stomach and the songs and tales that were shared as the darkness closed in on them were all things that made their life still worth living.

This night there was a lot of singing when Hetar tried to remember songs from when she and Jah'ren were just whelps. Her brother and mate was both humming along with the songs they recalled, both out of tune and happily ignorant of it.

Whenever the Tauren would join in, rumbling voices picking up the tune amazingly well, Cassandra closed her eyes and enjoyed the choir of her friend's voices. At one point there was a song even the bloodelves and the mage felt familiar enough with to sing along, the beautiful, clear tones of the elves mixing in with the faltering voice of the forsaken.

Cassandra was not musically gifted, but she had begun to know some of the words and the tones of the songs they sang the most. Also, she had a natural talent for rhythm, and she hummed along whenever she dared.

In the middle of a song Cassandra understood was about some epic fight hundreds of years ago, Bel'Zari raised her head and sniffed the nightwind.

The song immediately stopped. Everyone always kept on guard, since they knew there were enemies everywhere they went. Cassandra was still impressed by how fast everyone could be ready to fight; weapons and armour seeming to appear from nowhere.

Jah'ren leapt into the nearest pine and climbed through the thick needle-covered branches faster than his size would suggest was possible. While everyone waited for him come down again, Cassandra crouched down beside her pet.

"What's the matter, girl?" she whispered, stroking Bel'Zari's head and ears.

What amazed her was that the cat did not growl or make any threatening sounds towards whatever was out there in the darkness, instead she seemed interested, her ears pointing forward as if listening.

They all anticipated the worst news possible when Jah'ren after a while dropped down from the tree again, but his smile calmed them.

"Animal," he explained. "I sense only leopard. Following us."

They looked at the snow leopard sitting by Cassandra's feet.

"Because of her?" Cassandra asked.

The answer was a shrug of his shoulders as he sat down and stroked Bel'Zari's white fur.

"Maybe whelp. But I think something bigger. Maybe mate."

Whatever the animal was it kept its distance to the camp, but they could all feel it out there once they had noticed it.

In the morning Garam told them he thought he had seen its eyes close to the place where Jah'ren and Cassandra were sleeping with the leopard beside them.

"It will probably give up once it sees she's going with us," Hetar told Cassandra as they walked on through the valley.

Cassandra nodded, feeling bad for taking Bel'Zari away from her old life, but the bond between hunter and pet was strong. Besides, the leopard had come with her of its own free will, and she did not seem likely to run away.

They had not even walked for an hour before the other leopard made its move. Cassandra had gone a few meters away from the path to pick some plants that seemed interesting and was surprised when the growling beast suddenly appeared between the trees.

The leopard was huge, almost twice the size of little Bel'Zari, who at the sight of it lay down and whined.

Cassandra reached for the bow and gave her pet the order to protect, but Bel'Zari only looked from human to leopard, confusion and fear in her yellow-green eyes. Pointing her arrow directly at the beast, Cassandra drew a sharp breath and tried to calculate which way she could throw herself to have the best chance of escaping the claws she knew would be aimed at her.

Before she could think the beast leapt, hesitating only a moment when hearing the roar of rage coming from behind the human it was attacking. It was already in midair when something hit it at full speed, and the two shapes were sent tumbling through the snow.

Cassandra had throw herself to the side as the leopard jumped, but crawled up on her knees while Bel'Zari licked her hand apologetic.

"Are you okey?" Hetar asked, grabbing her friend's elbow and helping her up.

A deafening roar from the leopard made Cassandra turn her attention to the beast again and the sight that met her made her loose her breath.

Jah'ren was standing before the animal, covered in snow from the tumble they had taken, lips curled back in a snarl she had only seen a few times before. She knew all too well what it meant; the instincts had taken over and he was ready to fight whatever the world would throw at him. The leopard had the same snarl on its face, the two opponents not releasing their gaze from the other's a single moment.

Cassandra raised her bow and took aim when Ba'ka stopped her.

"No," Hetar said. "You can not interfere."

"What?" Cassandra exclaimed horrified. "This is not some game, that's a leopard!"

"Jah'ren knows what he's doing," the troll's sister told her, but Cassandra still lifted her bow again.

For a second time the priest hindered her in shooting. At the same time the leopard and Jah'ren clashed together, the beast going up on its hind legs. Strong, clawed paws was seized in blue hands, and the two screamed at each other in rage.

"Damn you!" Cassandra yelled, struggling to take aim as the two other trolls grabbed after her bow.

"You don't understand," Hetar said, finally getting a hold on her friend. "It is the challenge. He has to fight alone."

"That is stupid!" Cassandra snarled, getting angrier every second. "I will not see him be killed because he is stupid!"

She was shocked when Hetar's hand shot up to slap her across the face.

"Stupid human!" the troll growled. "You took him away from _what_ he is, you can not take away _who_ he is!"

Cassandra stopped struggling immediately, sitting down in the snow while her feelings raced. She turned her head away from the rest of the group and looked at the fight still taking place some distance away.

Jah'ren had managed to get behind the leopard, wrapping strong arms around its neck and wrestling it to the ground. Cassandra watched the lines of blood on his skin where claws had hit him, and there was blood in the leopard's fur as well. Soon it lay before his feet, knowing it had lost and waiting for the other creature to finish it off.

Through the tears stinging in her eyes Cassandra saw the one she loved more than anything lick the blood of his hand before he threw is head back and howled out his victory against the sky.

She did not realize what she was doing before she was running wildly through the woods, her feet taking her away from what hurt while her mind was numb and cold. The sound of voices was somewhere behind her and she imagined hearing running feet in the snow.

Increasing her tempo as the feeling of being chased crept over her, she threw her bow away. Her mind was still an empty numbness and she ran on instinct alone. There were something behind her, something that hurt her, something she in her soul knew she should fear, and it was chasing her. That was all she knew, all she could think, old instincts screaming and telling her there was a hunt on, and she was the prey.

_What are you doing? _her brain cried out as it finally regained some control.

Cassandra turned her head to look behind and then the ground dropped away.

As she fell through the snow, her hands desperately grasping for something to hold onto, she got a glimpse of a white river below her. The ice falling around her, let loose from the cliff above, cut into her skin like shards of glass.

Her hand finally managed to grab a root growing out from the icy surface of the steep slope and stopped her from falling. Gasping from the pain the sudden stop caused to her shoulder, Cassandra got her other hand up to grab even tighter onto the root.

She hung there, trying to hold on and at the same time clear her mind of the haze of feelings that kept her from thinking straight. Her eyes fell on the bloody, bruised hands, their tight grip slowly slipping on the frozen wood.

As her hands lost their hold Cassandra fell again and hit a big iceblock beneath her, her shoulder taking the most of the fall, but her head was spinning after the impact. A few seconds she lay on the ice, feeling it shaking under her weight and the dizziness getting worse. She blinked and blinked to see clearly, but there was something warm and sticky running into her one eye.

Fighting against her own body her eyes slowly closed, and over the thundering of the river below she could hear her own breathing, harsh and rasping.

Then, as the ice gave way, everything went black.

******

**I'm sorry! But the story just took over and I had no control whatsoever about what happened! Go read the next chapter!**


	10. Lost Memories

There was a blackness, thick and dark, sucking at her body, pulling her down into an embrace she could not escape. A feeling of being held by crushing arms made her fight, but the tight grip continued.

Then there was fire. A blazing warm fire burning through skin and bone and soul, turning her being into ashes. The small glowing pieces of her mind lay smouldering, desperately trying to remember the name of the existence she once had.

Her hands searched around her, looking for something to hold, and was grabbed by another hand, a big, soft, warm hand. It held her fast as she once again was pulled down into the darkness.

When she surfaced from the fever the next time there was stillness all around her. She could not move, every breath sending sharp pain through her body. There were voices in a distance, soft voices talking in a language she felt she should know, but she could not grasp the words.

Her mind was burning like a forge and she knew she needed to find something to cool her down before her body would burn away.

Limbs complaining, she crawled over the earthen floor, towards a weak light from somewhere beyond the room. As she fell, whimpering in pain when her body could not move anymore, there was a sudden hush from where the light was, and then a ruckus of voices.

Then all she could feel was hands touching her, lifting her and carrying her back to where she had been laying before. There was something very familiar about the faces her dizzy mind noticed, but she could not find what it was.

Through all the noise she noticed one voice in particular, a deep, commanding voice which soothed her. As she closed her eyes, giving in to exhaustion, she felt a hand holding hers again, telling her someone was there.

This time there were dreams in the blackness inside her mind.

First there were wolves, hunting her through a forest, and then there was an excruciating cold and pain as the sky broke into a thousand pieces and rained down on her. She bled fire from the cuts and set the forest ablaze in seconds. In a desperate attempt to kill the flames she stomped on them, but this did only make it worse and now her feet were burning too.

As the inferno ate its way through the forest, killing everything in its path she tried apologizing and explaining to the gods who suddenly had showed up to reprimand her.

"They scared me!" she screamed and was shocked to see her own face looking down at her from the shattered sky.

"Who?" she asked herself.

"Them. There was someone. The wolves. There was someone chasing me."

"Are you sure? Can you remember?"

"I don't know! There was someone. Someone…"

The face in the sky looked at her thoughtfully and with pity in its eyes.

"There was someone," the mirrored girl up there mimicked teasingly. "Someone important. Someone who tastes of wind and wilderness."

***

She sat up and gasped for air, frightening those in the room. Looking at them she was filled with a terror that froze her body.

There were five troll around the fire in the small hut, their eyes watching her intensely as she tried to move. One of the trolls, a large male with more tattoos than he had skin, came over to her and carefully shoved her down between the pelts again.

Some of his words seemed familiar to the girl, making her head spin when she tried to understand how she could know the language of someone she knew was the enemy.

The two troll children in the hut had hid behind their mother when the human awoke, but soon they crawled up to her, their eyes big and curious.

_Cassandra, _her inner voice told her. _You are Cassandra._

Having a name helped, knowing who it was doing the thinking was a step in the right direction. Still, the terror the sight of trolls caused in her mind was clouding her reason and thought. She knew there had been trolls long ago, in a village, and they had killed her family.

One of the adults tried giving her something to drink, but she pulled away, shivering in fright.

Again they talked in the strange rhythmic tones of the language she felt was so familiar, and one of them left the hut, letting Cassandra have a quick look out past the pieces of skin that hung in the opening to keep the cold from coming in.

While trying to figure out how to escape, Cassandra studied the that were trolls left.

They were all very pale, hair silvery or an icy blue, and their eyes were cold and grey like steel. There were no visible weapons in the room, but Cassandra did not feel this would do much difference if she would try to escape.

Sighing, she settled down between the pelts again, thinking it would be better to save her strength in case she would have to fight, and at the moment the trolls did not seem an immediate threat.

After half an hour the female who had left came back, this time bringing with her another troll. The newcomer was different from the others in every way. He was taller and leaner, his hair flaming red and the intelligent look in his red eyes made Cassandra cringe in fear. His gaze fell upon her and at once his face split into a huge grin.

"How ya feelin', mon?" he asked while coming over to where she lay, and crouched down beside her.

Cassandra looked up into his face and an ocean of feelings flowed over her.

"Tired," she answered eventually, hoping he would stop looking at her if she said something.

The troll nodded, taking her left arm and lifting it. It was covered in bandages and Cassandra winced as he examined it.

"Ya fell long way, mon," the troll told her. "Into water. Jandi find ya and bring ya here."

Closing her eyes she could remember the feeling of falling, and the cold embrace of the water.

She pulled her hand out of his grip, ignoring the pain the motion caused. There was something about the troll that scared her more than the terror she had felt for the others, he brought out some feelings inside her, feelings telling her she knew someone who grinned like that.

The flamehaired troll took her hand again, pushing a cup of water into it. In Cassandra's mind the touch was both unwelcome and familiar, and she did not know what to think of it.

He let her drink a little before packing the pelts around her again.

"Rest, mon," he commanded, and she recalled the voice she had heard in the fever, the hand that had taken hers. "Jandi not let anything hurt ya."

****  
**As I said: I had no control over what was happening at this point, and suddenly, out of the blue there is this spunky redheaded hunter showing up, and I though.... Wait a minute... Jandi? (for those that do not know him, he's the twin brother of Kor'alli, who I borrowed from KraeHi (aka Darkspear Koralli) for another fic.)**

**So. Thank you KraeHi for letting me borrow him! And don't worry, the next chapter is already up and I *cross my fingers* hope everything will be alright again!**


	11. Jandi

Jandi was still there when she woke again. The other trolls seemed to have multiplied while she had slept, but she understood from the darkness outside they had simply come in for the night.

There were conversations around the fire, and Cassandra understood a few words here and there. A tattooed elder gestured towards her and the argument that followed needed no more explanation for the human.

When the flamehaired troll noticed she was awake, he moved to sit by her side and whispered:

"Da' great fatha not like havin' human around. Not like havin' Jandi here eitha'."

Cassandra looked at the other trolls and decided there was no way Jandi could belong to that tribe. She felt calmer now that she had slept a little, but there still was the nagging feeling that she had forgotten something that was very important.

"You are not from this tribe?" she asked the troll beside her, beginning to feel somewhat comforted by his presence.

"No," Jandi smiled, rubbing one tusk with a large hand. "Jandi be goin' south, down to Booty Bay. Goin' over dwarf land an' me find da' little human in water. Da' Frostmane troll not like other people comin' to land, but help Jandi when come here with girl."

He pointed at her to explain who he was referring to, and Cassandra nodded, starting to understand she might owe this troll her life.

"Thank you," she said, avoiding looking at his face.

"No worries," he just smiled, patting her head.

The touch made Cassandra cringe and at the same time she welcomed it, because it made her mind almost remember what she knew she had forgotten.

"Ya' tell Jandi ya' name, mon?"

"Cassandra," she answered without thinking, still trying to fasten her thoughts around that feeling he gave her when he was close. "I cannot remember what has happened. I feel like there is something important I have forgotten."

Jandi looked thoughtfully at her before pulling out something from beneath the pelts that had been her pillow.

It was a thin leather string with beads and pearls and some shabby feathers on it. Cassandra's hand automatically shot out and tried to grab the necklace.

"That's mine!" she snarled as the troll kept it just out of reach from her.

"Aye," he nodded, while she noticed she was not the only one who had her eyes fixed on the necklace.

Every troll in the hut had gone quiet and stared at the string of beads in the other troll's hand. Cassandra reached for it again and this time he let her have it.

"Dat is Darkspear," he told her, and turned to the trolls around the fire, talking Zandali again.

Cassandra held the necklace tight and felt the veil inside her head clearing a little. She imagined feeling long arms holding her, and her mind raced; trying to find the one small thread that would lead into her memory.

"Not just Darkspear," Jandi said, still listening to the hushed conversation around the fire. "It be da' mark of Darkspear chief, Soki Ryba tribe me think."

"No," Cassandra said, surprising herself by speaking without her thoughts interfering. "Not Soki Ryba. It is Sre'Kel, Silver tusks."

There was a quick exchange of words as the tattooed elder Cassandra had understood was the Great Father talked to Jandi again. Cassandra had a headache from trying to remember why she would know these things, but she realized the other trolls had understood some of her words and it obviously upset them.

"Ya' know many thin' 'bout Darkspear," Jandi said when the voices calmed down again. "Dis worry da' great fatha." He scratched his chin in though and listened as the Great Father again spoke, the tone of his voice telling Cassandra the trolls were scared and did not like the presence of these two outsiders.

"Dis," Jandi said, touching the necklace again. "Dis be mark of Sre'Kel chief. Da' fatha say ya' not look strong, ya' canna killed da chief, ya' must be thief."

Cassandra's head was starting to spin again. She knew it was right in front of her, she felt she almost could reach out and grab it, but the thought avoided her grasp.

"Da' tribe be scared. Not wan' troubles wit' da' Darkspear."

"Someone gave me this," Cassandra said, talking more to herself than Jandi. "Someone gave me this and …"

She closed her eyes and remembered the tuskless grin and two green eyes shining with affection. Shocked at what her memory told her she opened her eyes and stared into Jandi's face. The troll had a concerned look in his eyes.

"Jah'ren," she whispered. "Where is Jah'ren?"

Jandi listened astonished to Cassandra as she told about Jah'ren and the necklace, the little tribe, how she had run and fallen of the cliff, but not why. She tried not to include too much detail of who they were, remembering Hetar's words about trusting no strangers, and besides, she now knew Jandi was Darkspear too.

After this was translated into Zandali by Jandi, the Great Father came over to Cassandra and held her face in his hand a while, ice-blue eyes studying her closely. In the end he let go of her again, and spoke a few words with Jandi before exiting the hut followed by many of the elders.

"Da' great fatha say Jandi and human can stay nite here. In mornin' we must leave."

"I will go to find my friends," Cassandra said, praying they would be looking for her.

"Ay," Jandi grinned. "Jandi help ya'."

***

The morning was sunny, but still cold. Cassandra had been packed in pelts to keep warm, the clothes she worn was shredded and torn and she had lost her cape either in the fall or in the river.

Jandi was smiling as she let some of the Frostmane trolls help her out to where he sat waiting on his big, white raptor. After Cassandra had remembered everything she did no longer fear the trolls much. She knew there were worse things in the world than a people who just wanted their own land and peace to be themselves.

The Great Father himself lifted her up to Jandi, speaking to the Darkspear troll in their own language. Understanding what an honour she was being shown, Cassandra held out her hand to the chief and thanked him in Zandali. The troll smiled as he took her hand, and wished them a good journey.

"He say; Go safe, an' ya find peace," Jandi translated, even though Cassandra nodded to show she understood.

Then Jandi smacked his lips and urged the mount forward.

The raptor ran fast along the snowy paths leading away from where the Frostmane tribe's small huts and caves lay in the furthest corner of a deep valley. Cassandra held on to Jandi with one hand and the harness with the other, finding the female riding style unpractical if you wanted to stay on.

She stole a glance up at the troll and was surprised to find herself thinking him handsome. She had a long time explained her love for Jah'ren by telling herself she liked him for his personality, not the way he looked. Now, feeling the blush creep over her skin as she watched Jandi, she realized she had crossed a line somewhere and now though in a different way than she once had.

The troll's breath turned to smoke in the cold air and his eyes were on the road ahead. He kept Cassandra in the saddle with one hand as the other held the reins steering the raptor.

"Ya' know where ta look?" Jandi asked, choosing the path towards the upper highlands when the road split into several.

"I usually can feel Jah'ren when I focus," she told him, her voice filled with pride.

"Ya' Jah'ren must be a good man," he told her, winking slyly.

"He is."

She closed her eyes tightly and tried to ignore the presence of the other troll while she searched out for her love.

"I know how ya' do dat'," he smiled as she opened her eyes again. "When I was a whelp, me brotha and I find each otha dat' way."

Cassandra had the feeling inside her now, and it amazed her to know she had forgotten it at all.

Jandi had told her she had been unconscious for four days, and when she had checked her injuries she knew she could count herself lucky for being alive. Her left arm had taken a lot of damage, first when she grabbed the root and then when she fell further. Her body was covered in cuts and bruises from ice shards and rocks, and there was a nasty cut right under her hair at one side which had bled a lot.

The sun stood high when Jandi stopped his raptor to ask Cassandra for directions again. She closed her eyes and started searching for that small beckoning light in her inner darkness which she knew was her friends.

As she lifted her hand and pointed there was a loud howl from the ridge she was gesturing towards. Her body was filled with warmth hearing that sound, knowing she would have recognized that voice anywhere.

She put her head back and tried howling, but failed in making much sound. The was a snigger from the troll behind her as she blushed a deep crimson.

"Ya' no good at da' howlin', mon. Ya' need practice befo' bein' real troll."

She almost covered her ears as Jandi threw his head back and demonstrated. There immediately came an answer from the ridge above them, Jah'ren's voice now sounding urgent and eager.

Jandi tightened his grip around Cassandra and made the raptor run up through the trees below the ridge. As they came closer to the howls Cassandra though she could see shapes between the trees, and suddenly Jah'ren came running out from the forest, two snow leopards at his heels.

He did not slow down, but skidded to a halt when he was at the side of the raptor and dragged Cassandra down into his arms.

"Kass," he whimpered into her hair, crushing her to him and shivering.

She could tell he had been running wildly, because he was covered in sweat and his breath was quick and uneven.

As the rest of the tribe emerged from between the trees Jah'ren let go of her and fell down on his knees, head bowed to the ground. Cassandra looked surprised at him before she knelt down and took his head in her hands.

"It was not your fault," she comforted, almost starting to cry when she saw the look on his face. "I just panicked."

"I could not hear you," he told her in a trembling whisper. "I could not hear your heart."

Cassandra got him to stand up again and put her arms around his waist to hold him. She delighted in the tender kisses he covered her face with while she felt Bel'Zari rubbing a slightly wet nose against the back of her hand.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed, clinging to him.

When the rest of the tribe had welcomed her back, Cassandra being sent from embrace to embrace and showered in worried, soft reprimands, they all heard the story of how Jandi had found her and what had happened in the time she had been missing.

"You forgot?" Jah'ren teased, finally regaining his normal humour. "How you forget Jah'ren?"

"Very easily," Cassandra smirked, squeezing the hand that held one of hers.

Hetar took her other hand and held it in both of her own.

"I am sorry," she told Cassandra, but was interrupted as the girl put her arms around her.

"We'll not talk any more about that." Cassandra whispered back, smiling as the trolls hurried to dry her eye with the back of her hand.

*****

**So, hopefully no one will kill me after this. *phew***

**And language note: The Zandali words are still made up by me. I use Slavic languages as inspiration when I compose the words, because they are often very syllabic, as is Zandali (yes, I am a language geek, and I have a sister who studies to speak more languages than the last pope, who spoke 29 I think). So the names of the sub-tribes (Tall fish and Silver Tusks) are composed from a mixture of Polish, Russian and Serbian (add a pinch of Lu and you're there!)**


	12. Fire mane

**Small chapter :) I know.**

*******

That night the familiar faces around the campfire and the happy laughter as Jandi and the three other trolls reminisced about the past filled Cassandra's heart with a warmth so strong she almost thought it could melt the icy mountains of Dun Morogh.

She had curled up in Jah'ren's lap and was constantly caressed by his hands, telling her how scared he had been, and how relieved he was to have her back again. As her eyes met Jandi's across the campfire she smiled widely, and got a sly wink back from the other hunter.

When the siblings and the priest had heard the strangers name there had been laughing and hugs, and Jah'ren had taken the redhaired troll's hand and held it in silence a long time, happy to see the old friend, and thrilled to have his Cassandra brought back to him.

Cassandra was tired, but not enough to get to sleep while there was something exciting to talk about. She listened to a conversation mixing between Zandali, orcish and sometimes common when she did not understand and needed an explanation.

"How is ya crazy brotha?" Ba'ka asked Jandi.

From what Cassandra understood from the following exchange of words and bouts of laughter, Jandi's brother had to be something special.

"His brotha and Jandi and us played together when little," Jah'ren explained, grinning happily by the memory. "His brotha be the craziest troll in all the world!"

"Na," Jandi laughed, shaking his head a little. "Kor'alli not as crazy as Jah'ren!"

"Kor'alli?" There was a gasp from the bloodelves, and when everyone turned to the warlock her face was flustered and the paladin held her hand in a crushing grip.

"Ya know me brotha?" Jandi asked, noticing the blush on both girls' faces.

"No!" Silvanya said sharply. "Talandriel just thinks it's a funny name. Don't you?"

The warlock nodded eagerly.

"Why would we know stupid Kor'alli," the paladin continued. "I mean…Some stupid troll we obviously don't know!"

Jandi let it go with a shrug and turned to Ba'ka, telling him of how his brother was, crazy or not. Cassandra watched the bloodelves whisper between themselves in elfish, the warlock still blushing and giggling while trying to conceal it.

"So Jandi is from your tribe?" she asked Jah'ren, knowing that venturing into the complex structures of tribes probably would be too much for her tired brain.

It was Hetar that took the challenge of explaining it to her.

"Jandi is Darkspear, but not Sre'Kel."

"And he's not Soki Ryba?" Cassandra asked, looking over at the priest and realizing that she could imagine there being differences between the four of them, other than just hair and faces.

"Me is Fogo Juba," Jandi said proudly, shaking his hair to make it shine in the light from the fire.

"Fire mane," Hetar told her, hitting Jandi in the shoulder with her fist and getting a happy laughter in return. "They be too proud of their hair."

Cassandra looked at the long, flame coloured hair of the troll and knew she would be proud of that hair too if she could have it. Although being slightly bushy, because you couldn't get around that if you were a troll, Jandi's hair looked incredibly soft and Cassandra imagined it would look perfect no matter how much he shook it around.

"Jandi's brotha always fight Jah'ren when small," Ba'ka smirked. "Me remember mothers tellin me look after whelps, then come home and mothers yell at me."

"Because," Hetar reminded him. "You was busy flirting with someone and not see Jah'ren pull Kor'alli hair. And then come home with crying, bleeding whelps."

The four trolls laughed at the memory and Cassandra delighting in how happy Jah'ren's laughter sounded.

"I flirt with yo," Ba'ka told Hetar and she giggled back at him.

"An' Ya," Jandi pointed an accusing finger at Jah'ren. "Ya never want to be wet! Me remember Hetar always tryin' to wash ya!"

"And mother always put him in wash up," Jah'ren's sister confessed to the rest of the little tribe. "Sometime the brothers too, when she look after them, and they always fight for old food in the water."

Cassandra stared at her, trying to figure out what her friend had just said.

"Your mother put Jandi and his brother together with Jah'ren in the wash?"

"Wash up. Pot and pan," Hetar smiled.

"Oh, she put them in the water with the dirty dishes!" Cassandra laughed, trying to picture the three little whelps splashing around among pots and pans. "And then they fought over scraps of old food?"

She wrinkled her nose at the though of all those strange and soggy pieces that always floated around when she was doing the dishes.

"Yea," Jandi snorted. "An' Jah'ren one time bite me."

Cassandra giggled as her man changed to Zandali again, obviously telling Jandi that he did not have to tell her about all of that. She was tired, but warm and happy, and the feeling of being safe in Jah'ren's arms again was all that mattered.

Snuggled up against her legs was Bel'Zari, happy to have her mistress back again, her loyalty amazing the other hunters. Beside Bel'Zari lay the other snow leopard, the one Jah'ren had fought and defeated. He had taken the leopard to be his pet when he realized that it was Bel'Zari's mate. The big beast had been named Bel'jin, and Cassandra had nodded happily over the choice of name.

The trolls talked all the night away while the others fell asleep one after another. There was a lot to tell each other, and a lot to discuss. Jah'ren and Hetar was sad to hear their tribe had been involved in a lot of political commotion in later years, since there was no solid leader and thus the tribe had lost much status to the rest of the Darkspear.

***

In the morning Jandi saddled his mount and wished them a good journey.

"You could come with us," Hetar told him quietly. "It has warmed our hearts to see you."

"Jandi have me own path to go," the hunter told her. "But wen' ya come ta Stranglethorn, come see me, sista'."

All four of the trolls put their arms around each other and hugged, for a short moment sharing something they all felt was lost to them. Then Jandi turned to Cassandra and lifted her into a crushing embrace.

"Ya too, little hunter," he smiled, hugging her tightly. "An' if Jah'ren eva treat ya bad, ya come tell Jandi, eh?"

He winked and grinned at her, ignoring Jah'ren, who threatened him back in Zandali.

They watched the white raptor disappear into the snowy forest and the world already felt a bit emptier without the redhead's friendly grin and happy laughter.

"To the wetlands?" Hetar asked the rest of the tribe, smiling at the faces around her.

They all nodded, turning around to continue the journey away from danger and into the future, no matter what it held.

*****

**So, first of all: Thanks for reading. And I can't promise there will be an update anytime soon, because I'm stressed out over Job-related stuff (Oh, noes, the real world beckons!) and I am totally out of ideas and inspiration, so I don't know what happens next.**

**And then, language notes (because yes, I am a g33k): **

**First, Jandi belongs to the subtribe of Fogo Juba, the Fire-Mane tribe (It might just be in my own head though. I hope KraeHi will forgive me for making up things about the brothers) Fogo Juba roughly translates to Fire Mane in Portuguese, so for once I did not find my inspiration in Slavic languages. **

**And Bel'Jin, the snow leopard, roughly translates into "white chief (or leader)" Bel being from "white" in Russian, and Jin being the suffix for a leader or chief in Zandali. **

**Okey, I'm done boring you with my geeky brain. XD**

**Merry Christmas to all! BTW  
**


	13. Night Watch

**Forgive me for the short, and slow update. I've hit a wall when it comes to this story, although I think there will be some more inspiration soon, due to my fans both drawing for me and sending me ideas ;) Thank you guys, you are the best (and you know who you are, all of you)**

**I just thought it was time we got to meet up with the gang and see how they were doing, and this cute little piece came out.**

***

It was a ragged gang who one evening climbed down the last hillside that marked the border between the dwarf-lands and the swamp.

Every member of the little tribe was tired, their clothes torn and dirty, their bodies and minds swimming in the waters of exhaustion, but even so; the greenness of the trees and tall swampgrass soothed them.

"Me an' Kass know swamps," Jah'ren smiled, putting his arm around his little human's shoulders. "We know how eat crock."

"Just don't make gumbo," Cassandra moaned, leaning heavily on her man for support.

Her legs felt like lead each time she forced them forward, her mind a black hole of weariness and fear for what lay ahead.

"So, where do we go from here?" she asked, again wondering why in the world they were moving north.

"North." It was Hetar who answered her. "To Arathi."

"What's in Arathi?" Cassandra had long wondered what the plan was, or if there even was one.

"Hammerfall," Ba'ka told her.

"We know a troll in Hammerfall," the female troll explained. "A good troll. We can stay the winter there, safe from Alliance."

*

Setting up camp in between some of the large, old trees of the wetlands, the little tribe settled down for the night almost without sound. They were too tired to talk, too exhausted to hunt, and curled up by the fire Lirlith had managed to get going, sleep taking over almost instantly.

Cassandra and the three trolls stayed awake a little while, Ba'ka and Hetar speaking quietly together until they started to yawn and blink their eyes.

"We can take the first watch," Cassandra told them, feeling how close she was to falling asleep, but knowing her friends felt the same.

"I'll stay up with you," Hetar told her with a smile.

"But me and Jah'ren will be alright," Cassandra protested while she noticed how heavily Jah'ren's arms were hanging over her shoulders, how his body leaned forward on hers.

"Jah's not keeping watch," his sister laughed. "He be sleeping."

His head was on her shoulder, and when Cassandra turned to look at him she found his face a mask of peaceful satisfaction. She kissed a dirty cheek softly and helped Hetar as the troll gently lay her brother's sleeping body down on the ground beside Ba'ka who was already snoring steadily.

"Guess it's you and me then, sister," Cassandra yawned as Hetar snuggled up beside her trying to share the warmth of their bodies. "I'm not looking forward to when we need to wake someone to take the next turn."

Night in the wetlands was still and quiet. The beasts settled down in their bogs, the dragonlings in their nests and no humanoid was stupid enough to attempt to travel away from the road at night. Even the annoying murlocs found their way into their little huts of sticks and straw to sleep or do whatever it was murlocs did at night.

"Make babies," Hetar suggested as Cassandra brought the topic to attention.

There was a sleepy and suppressed giggling from the two watchwomen, before Cassandra whispered:

"That would explain why there seems to be no end to the buggers!"

Another hour went by without more giggling, but a lot of yawning and shaking each other awake when one of them gave in to sleep.

When Hetar for the seventh time shook Cassandra back to life, the female troll pointed to their mates laying beside them. The laughter that followed woke Cassandra better than a bucket of water to the face.

Ba'ka had curled up close to Jah'ren, using the other troll's hip as a pillow and a long arm had found its way over Jah'ren's thighs, keeping the pillow in place. Jah'ren had answered to this by grabbing Ba'ka's pink braid in one hand and placing his cold feet against the other one's robed body, stealing what warmth they could.

"Like whelps," Hetar giggled when the initial laughter died away.

A sound from the other side of the dying fire made them look at the undead warrior who sat up and smiled his sad smile at them. He nodded and folded his hands under his head before pointing at the two women.

"Yes," Cassandra told him gratefully. "We need to sleep."

She was not at all surprised the next morning when awaking to find herself captured in a tangle of arms and legs, with Hetar's hand stuck in the tangled braid of her hair.

****

**So long and thanks for all the fish.** **... reading... I meant reading ;D**


	14. Meeting in Menethil

Hetar called a tribe meeting in the morning. She wanted to know what they had left from their sparse supplies and was not at all surprised when the search through bags and pockets resulted in a little dried meat, some pieces of fur, a handful of crushed herbs and a very old apple.

"Jah'ren have apple?" her brother begged, glancing longingly at the wrinkled, green thing in his sister's hand.

Hetar shook her head before drawing a knife to cut the apple in ten equal pieces. As she silently distributed them among the tribe there was a forced smile upon her face. She knew they were all hungry and tired. Their diet, consisting mainly of meat, did not give them many vitamins although it kept them from starving. The thin and dirty faces of the little tribe smiled back at her as she handed them the small slice of the last apple.

"We be needing supplies," she sighed, watching her brother feed Cassandra his slice. "We not gonna get to Arathi without supplies."

There went a murmur of agreement through the small camp before Cassandra said what she felt everyone was forgetting.

"I don't know if you have noticed, but we don't have any money. You need money to buy supplies."

Hetar met her pessimism with a short laughter and turned to the bloodelves. With a clever smile, Talandriel summoned her imp and took the rattling bag he gave her.

"Money no problem," Hetar grinned as Cassandra's eyes went big at the amount of gold the warlock poured out of the bag. "Talandriel keeps it in safe place."

*

The gold jingled in Cassandra's pockets as she wandered along the road on her own. She could feel eyes following her from the swamp and knew her mate was out there in the grass and bogs somewhere, watching her.

Menethil harbour was not far away from where they had spent the night, and Cassandra had volunteered for the mission of getting supplies, knowing very well she was the only one who could even go close to the little fortified village of the Alliance.

When she could see the bridge and walls of Menethil, she turned and gave a signal with one hand, telling Jah'ren that everything was alright and she would be going the last bit on her own. A birdcall answered her from the swamp, giving her the determination she needed to walk on.

The dwarfguards at the bridge looked Cassandra over when she passed, but no more than they looked at any dirty human coming in from the swamps, and then she was inside the walls. The smell and sounds of humans was like a slap to the face, memories and old thoughts pushing into her mind instantly.

_They could not get you if you just stay here,_ her brain told her and Cassandra had to smile at the absurdity of the thought.

She strolled around the town a little while, looking over what the different merchants offered and making a mental list of what they needed. Since she could not carry too much on her own, and also was afraid to get too much attention if she bought supplies for ten people, she tried to narrow down her purchases to what was strictly necessary.

She stopped at the stall of a clothier as she remembered a request the paladin had made before Cassandra left the tribe. Silvanya, who still could be cold and unpleasant towards her at times, had pulled the human aside, explaining in stuttering Orcish what she needed as she could not speak a word common. Cassandra had understood well enough, her Orcish had improved much lately and she could even speak it quite well when she had the time to think.

As she picked up a beautiful woven band in green and violet she felt watched and raised her eyes to carefully search the crowd. From the stables beside the tavern a young woman was watching her intensely. Cassandra tried to look at the woman inconspicuously, but there was a smile in a pair of blue eyes when her gaze met the other's.

The woman by the stable gave Cassandra a short nod, before going back to talking to a shaggy sailor. Cassandra hurried to pay for the band she had chosen, hoping it would be to the elf's taste, and went to pick up the rest of the supplies and get out of town as quickly as possible.

She was picking out spices and herbs when a conversation close by caught her ear.

"They sure brought a lot of soldiers in on that ship," one man commented. "She must be dangerous, this girl they're chasing."

"Huh," another man snorted. "I bet they're just taking precautions. Those trolls can be vicious, and if the Captain told me the truth he said they would be protecting her."

Cassandra felt the chill of fear down her spine, trying to pay attention to what the merchant was talking about, but not being able to stop listening to the two men.

"I bet I could take them," the first man bragged. "I used to be a famed trollhunter in my days. Made good money off them tusks."

"Then why aren't you out in the swamp? I hear her husband has put out quite a large sum for whoever gets her home again… But if the Captain gets her first I bet she won't be coming home any time soon."

This made the men snigger while a third man joined them beside the merchant's booth.

"I think I've seen her!" the newcomer exclaimed excitedly. "The one they're chasing, I mean. I was just minding my own business and I saw this dark-skinned woman buying some potions from the apothecary."  
"There's many dark-skinned women in the world," the self-proclaimed trollhunter snorted. "They never said anything about she being dark anyways."

"No, but this one's looks wild. Like she could be travelling with some of the wild folk. She had beads and bangles, like _they_ do. Wild, I tell you!"

Cassandra started to pull away from the stall, stuffing her purchases hastily into a bag. She recalled the woman that had been watching her earlier, she had been very dark-skinned and maybe, if you tried thinking about the townsfolk as civilized, she could look wild.

Gathering together everything she had bought, Cassandra had just started to make her way towards the gate when her heart went cold.

There were soldiers by the gate now, a dozen of them, their leading officer talking to the dwarfs. Not sure of what to do, Cassandra slid into the shadows between the nearest house and the wall that surrounded the town. She almost screamed in fear when a hand touched her arm.

"Shush," a woman's voice told her. "Dey be lookin' for us both now."

Turning around, Cassandra's eyes met the calm, blue eyes of the woman that had been watching her earlier.

"Ah be Aiji," the woman proclaimed, reaching out and closing one hand around the necklace of pearls and beads Cassandra wore around her neck, examining it and comparing it to her own. "Ah bet ya be the one dem soldiers be lookin' fo'."

Cassandra nodded silently, knowing she could not be sure she was, but her instincts told her all these soldiers were here for a reason, and she could very well be it.

"Ah talk to sailor," Aiji continued. "He tell me dey be lookin' fo' a woman who ran away wit' a troll befo' her weddin, an' den dey find her an' want to hang her, but she escape, an' now dey be huntin' her."

"That's probably me," Cassandra sighed. "My name is Cassandra."

Their eyes met and both smiled, as if there was some kind of joke only they knew.

"I have to get out of here," Cassandra continued after a while. "I have my tribe out there in the swamp, and I need to warn them about the soldiers."

Aiji did not answer at once, but when she did her voice was low and serious.

"Ah have mah tribe out dere too, but we're not getting' out dis way. Ah see dem soldiers come from ship. Dere be many, many of dem. Dey talk 'bout goin' into da swamp an' findin' ya tribe. Mah people be in danger too. Ya come wit' me."

Not daring to protest, Cassandra followed the other woman over to the wall where there was a small ramp leading up to the top. They climbed up while keeping their heads down and both breathed a sigh of relief as they reached the crest of the wall without having been noticed.

Cassandra was just about to point out the fact that the wall was seven meters tall and that was a long fall, when Aiji raised a finger to her lips.

The two women lay flat on the stone while some soldiers passed below and then Aiji pointed towards a tree growing beside the stone wall.

"I don't know if I can make the jump," Cassandra whispered, feeling dizzy just from the thought of flinging herself into the air.

"Ah go first an' help ya," Aiji comforted, making her way over to where the wall was closest to the tree.

Cassandra watched how elegant the other woman flung herself from the wall, falling a meter before landing in the crown of leafless branches. Blue eyes immediately scouted her surroundings before they turned upwards, beckoning for Cassandra to follow.

_Don't think!_ Cassandra told herself, and it worked well enough, because just a moment later she was hanging in the air, one hand in Aiji's and the other clinging to a branch.  
The women got down to the ground in a hurry and Cassandra followed Aiji's lead as they made their way over the ditch under the bridge leading into town. Crawling on their bellies along the water edge they kept out of sigh from the guards, but Cassandra could not avoid thinking that when there would be found no sign of either one of them in town, the guards would come out to look.

As they rested in a thick shrubbery, she noticed Aiji was breathing heavily and obviously needed a rest.

"You okey?" Cassandra whispered, observing how the other one rubbed her belly with one hand.

"Yea, da bebe be kickin' a bit," Aiji told her with a smile.

It dawned on Cassandra just what her female intuition had been trying to tell her the last minutes. She watched Aiji's round and enlarged belly while feeling embarrassed to know the other woman was still more agile and faster than herself even dragging along another passenger.

A sound from behind them made Cassandra turn in fright, and she was not comforted to see five soldiers following the banks of the large bog, sticking their swords into tufts of grass and brambles.

"There!" a voice suddenly exclaimed, as one of the soldiers pointed with the tip of his spear towards the place where the two were hiding.

"Run," Aiji's voice whispered, and the two pulled each other up from the ground before sprinting away from the soldiers.

Cassandra could hear the shouts behind them and hoped the town was far enough away, and the soldiers would come after them instead of alerting the rest of the squad, but she did not dare to look behind. Aiji's hand pulled her here and there, leading her in the direction of some small hills not far away. As they got closer to the hills there came a shout from the dark-skinned woman.

"Shadd! Raz!"

Cassandra stumbled to a halt at the sight of the two trolls coming over the first earthmound. Her mind tried to comprehend what was happening, but her heart sang out in relief and joy at the sight of what she knew she should have considered a threat.

As the trolls passed her, Cassandra turned to the enemy too, drawing her daggers while regretting to have left the bow with her tribe.

One of the trolls, the redhaired one, attacked the soldiers with rage burning in his eyes and swinging a massive axe, while the other one seemed more focused on assuring Aiji's safety. Cassandra recognized a few words as the other woman hastily told the troll she was alright in Zandali.

The blackhaired troll turned his eyes to Cassandra, who nodded to tell him she was okay too, before he joined the fight.

Two of the soldiers were already down, and the last three fought desperately against the trolls. A massive arrow reduced them to only two, making Cassandra smile happily as she recognized the red feathers in it. The next moment two snow leopards were at her feet, ready to leap at any danger that would present itself.

As another soldier fell for the warrior's axe the remaining one turned to flee, but did not get far before Jah'ren's arrows caught up with him. Cassandra turned her face away as he fell, knowing very well that they could not afford having him running back to town to report.

"Kass!"

The two other trolls and Aiji watched, looking slightly surprised, as Jah'ren grabbed the little woman and lifted her into a tight embrace.

"Don't crush me," she warned, ruffling the green hair at his neck. "I'm okey. And we don't have time. We're in trouble."

****

**They're in trouble! Oh, my!**

**Thanks for reading, and please accept my apology that it's not the usual quality over my work, I find things just don't turn out the way I want them these days. **

**Aiji, Shadd and Raz (plus some other nice people we're going to meet later on) belongs to Jackalchan, one of my beautiful muses. I had a teaparty with her OC's the other day and they're a great little gang.** (go here: .net/s/4759051/1/If_you_were_to_meet .... to read her own view of them)

**And just to make you curious: I'm not sure what happens right now in the story, but the part from when they come to Arathi is ready in my mind, and I think we're getting closer to the end. I can promise you a little sweet romance, suspence and drama, and a couple of new and old friends showing their faces.**

**A happy new year to all my faithful readers. I appreciate you! (Yes, you :)  
**


	15. Children

The two women hastily explained what had happened to the trolls and about the danger that was coming.

"I heard them talking about sending all the soldiers out into the swamp and drive us into a corner," Cassandra said, her voice filled with anxiety.

Aiji told them she had heard similar things from talking to some of the sailors from the boat, making the blackhaired troll frown at her. As the pair of them talked together in Zandali, Cassandra turned to Jah'ren:

"I can't understand much of what they say," she told him. "I know it's Zandali, cause the words are right, but I don't get the meaning."

"They talk other Zandali, need to listen hard to understand."

"So they are not Darkspear?"

Aiji broke away from her somewhat heated conversation with the other troll to answer Cassandra's question.

"Nah, we be Longtusks, mah tribe and Ah'."

"Longtusks," Jah'ren nodded slowly as he let this sink in. "Yeah, you speak right for Longtusk. Me think all you was dead."

"We be da last," the blackhaired troll answered, and then added, while wrinkling his brows: "Not Shadd. Shadd just belong."

Aiji explained quickly that the darkhaired troll was only adopted into the Longtusk tribe when he had been thrown out from his own.

Cassandra looked from the woman to the trolls while smiling slightly at the fact that Aiji seemed to feel no need to explain why she herself was a part of the tribe. After all this time in the company of her friends and listening to Hetar's explanation on troll history and culture, Cassandra had begun to know what to look for to judge what kind of trolls they were.

Shadd wore his long, black hair tied up in a ponytail, had straight tusks, one of them broken close to his lips, while the redhaired troll's tusks curled upwards and also was more ebony of colour than the pearly whiteness of Shadd's. Cassandra could not help but wonder if he polished them like Ba'ka sometimes did when he felt the sun and weather had stained them enough.

Aiji's concerned voice pulled Cassandra back from her thoughts, and made her frown with the effort of following the conversation that went back and forth between Jah'ren and the woman.

"She say," Jah'ren told her when the rapid exchange of words came to an end. "Her tribe be going north. She want go into human town an' explore." At this point both Shadd and the one Cassandra had understood was named Raz rolled their eyes. "She say her brotha is out in the swamp with a young one."

"And the rest of the tribe?" Cassandra asked, feeling five people were not enough to make a tribe.

"Dey be up in hill," Aiji smiled, while pointing to the mountains where the pass to Arathi lay like a cut among the blackened peaks. "Dey be safe. One be not well, so we let dem rest in safe place."

*

After the five had been properly introduced, a hurried decision was made to send the two women back to Jah'ren and Cassandra's little tribe to warn them about the danger, while the men found Aiji's brother.

The women urged their men to be careful and come back in one piece, before the two of them headed back to where Hetar had found the tribe a hideout.

As they made their way around the bogs and over the little rivers, Aiji started asking questions, obviously fascinated with the story Cassandra could tell.

"So ya and Jah'ren be togetha?"

Cassandra answered with telling the story about the river while she balanced along a strip of ground between two bogs. When she finished, Aiji laughed quietly and told her:

"Dat troll know how to be charmin' Ah' tell ya. Him be a good fighta an' mate. Ah' can tell from dem scars and how he hold ya."

"Yes," Cassandra smiled back. "He is good to me, and a very good fighter. He is my life and soul."

Aiji nodded slowly, and rubbed her belly thoughtfully while following Cassandra around a cluster of trees.

"Like Shadd be mine," she said, stopping to catch her breath a moment.

Cassandra placed a small hand on the other woman's stomach, fascinated with its round form and how swollen it seemed.

"Is he kicking?" she asked in wonder.

Aiji nodded with a smile.

"Ya an' Jah'ren have any whelps?" she asked, winking slyly.

This made Cassandra realize who's child it had to be in Aiji's belly, and she looked at the other in amazement.

"It's Shadd's child?"

Again Aiji just nodded, ignoring the shock and awe in Cassandra's voice.

"I'm sorry," Cassandra told her. "I did not think it could be… possible. I though that could not happen."

"Oh, it can," the other woman assured her with a smile. "Ah' can tell ya dat. Mebbe, mebbe one day ya'll have whelps with Jah'ren, and den ya'll see."  
Cassandra had to smile at the though. She had thought that when she decided to be with Jah'ren she had let go of all hope of a normal life, and although things would never become normal for them, the chance of one day having children made her fell warm and happy.

"I wonder how they would look," she giggled as she tried to imagine what a mixture between her and Jah'ren would look like.

Aiji joined her in the giggling, when suddenly Cassandra put a hand over her mouth and motioned her to be quiet. The two women hunched down in the tall grass, silently watching as a big, black raptor ran by.

The rider was cloaked and hooded, but his hands and feet still told them what race he belonged to. Alongside the black raptor another one was running, darting here and there among the trees and bushes, his red skin bright against the endless green and brown of the swamp.

When the rider and raptors had passed, Aiji turned to look at Cassandra, seeing the worry in her eyes.

"Troll not bad news," she whispered. "Most troll is good."

Cassandra nodded her head, before explaining:

"Jah'ren is not safe from trolls. He has left his kin and will not go back. He was supposed to be chief, but he won't because his tribe follows the Horde."

"Dat's bad," Aiji agreed. "Dey be very angry at troll leavin' deir path in Darkspear. Ya be right to be careful."

******

**My chapters are short these days, I'm afraid. Work takes a lot of me right now, but hopefully I'll get around to write something more soon. **

**And I just noticed that the link at the bottom of the last chapter was sensured (although it was a Fanfiction .net link....) If you want to learn more about Jackalchan's characters I'm sure you'll find the way to her profile ;)**

**Again thank you for all support, kind words and comments on my stories. You guys keep me writing XD**


	16. Hold the line

Jah'ren could feel Cassandra going further and further away from him, but it was a comfort to know she also was going away from danger. The two Longtusks moved through the swamp in front of him, their eyes constantly scouting the terrain for any signs of Aiji's brother and the youngling.

While Cassandra was victim for the inquisitive Aiji, Jah'ren's two companions kept silent, at least up until Shadd's curiosity took over and made him turn to the green haired troll with a question.

"Yea, she be my mate," Jah'ren answered, grinning widely.

The adopted Longtusk nodded with a smile at this.

"Aiji be mine," he said. "It be me babe she carry."

If Cassandra had been there she would have noticed the flash of fire trough Jah'ren's eyes and smiled, knowing her mate felt the same way as she about the prospect of one day being parents.

During the next hours of searching through the swamp Jah'ren discovered that Shadd actually liked talking, when he could talk of Aiji at least.

The blackhaired troll told of how Aiji had been found wandering the Barrens, only a child, and raised by the Longtusk tribe, who at the time was a thriving and rather large people. The woman who had raised her had been the tribe's head shaman, and thus Aiji had followed the tribe's tradition and taken her new mother's path when she came of age.

He also told how he had been expelled from his own tribe, but the Longtusks had taken him in, their hospitality and kindness extending even to those outside their own tribe, unlike many troll clans.

"An' den we find da love," he finished, looking extremely pleased.

"Aftha fightin' a long time…" the silent Raz commented. "An' aftha makin' all tribe worry what we do with ya both."

Shadd scowled at the Longtusk, making Jah'ren laugh at his serious face.

"Shh!" Raz suddenly exclaimed, hunching down in the grass.

The three trolls watched as about a dozen armed men galloped by on the road a hundred meters from where they hid. The flags of Stormwind and the Alliance carried by the two last riders told them this was what Aiji and Cassandra had been warning them about.

"Dey ride after women," Shadd whispered, fear in his voice. "We no have time to find Ze…"

The darkhaired troll was interrupted when the tip of a dagger was pressed into his side, just hard enough to sting, but not to pierce his skin.

"No need to come fin' me, Shadd," the rogue said as he faded into view. "Ah' be right here."

"Ze'Brashi!" Raz grabbed the rogue's hand and squeezed it. "Where be Tan'tuk?"

"Here, Raz'ik."

The voice reached their ears before they could see the youngling, but then he crawled up over the edge of the little hill they sat on. He was dirty and looked like he had been running wildly through the swamp, his mouth hanging open, panting.

"We see da soldiers," Ze'Brashi told the others while pulling the young boy to his feet and commenting on his stamina. "We come quick to fin' ya, an' Ah' hear ya a mile away!"

The green mohawk on his head shook as he turned his head from side to side, obviously looking for something.

"Where be me sister?"

Raz'ik hurried to introduce Jah'ren to the two other Longtusks and told them about Cassandra and Aiji going to warn the tribe.

"Ya sent da women alone!" the rogue exclaimed, looking worried.

"Dat be Aiji we talkin' aboot," Shadd pointed out, as Jah'ren said:

"An' my Kass. She fight like tiger. An' she got two le'pards with her."

The youngling drew a long breath before he could manage to speak:

"But dere be ten and four soldiers, an' we stan' here talkin' when we should be runnin'."

"He be right," Jah'ren nodded before turning on his heels. Suddenly he did not feel so sure that Cassandra would be alright anymore.

As he started running he was flanked by Shadd and Ze'Brashi, both of them looking as worried as he felt.

*

It took them little more than half an hour to run all the way back to where the tribe had been hiding, but the soldiers were mounted and had gotten there first. Jah'ren felt his heart pound against his ribs as he saw two officers kneeling down at the remains of the campfire they had kept burning through the night.

"They should not be far away," one of the men commented, and Jah'ren felt the fear go like cold water down his spine.

He imagined the horses running after his tribe, their tired faces filled with fear, and reached a decision.

"There," he said, pointing to some ruins of something that might once have been a house or a landmark over a tomb resting in the hillside a little above the soldiers. "We can hold them there."

Without a word the others nodded, feeling the same fear for the ones they loved as Jah'ren did.

They moved as one being, past the soldiers, who seemed to have all the time in the world now they had found tracks to follow, and towards the ruins. When they had come about two thirds of the way, the soldiers mounted again and set off along the track the tribe had left.

"Run to the ruins," Jah'ren ordered.

Only the redhaired warrior was left beside him, his massive axe ready in sturdy hands. Jah'ren held two arrows between his lips before placing a third one against the bowstring.

As the first arrow buried its deadly steel tip in the slit between two pieces of armour, Jah'ren readied another one, his ears filling with the raging howl Raz'ik let out to capture the soldiers' attention.

The two next arrows were deflected on shiny breastplates, but the last one Jah'ren managed to send away before the enemy was upon them hit one of the horses in the nose and made the animal throw it's rider to the ground.

A bark from Raz'ik made Jah'ren run after the others towards the ruins, while the first horse had an unpleasant meeting with the redhaired troll's axe. The next horse came up on Jah'ren's side and the rider hit out with his lance after the running troll, but he underestimated the enemy's dexterity and was surprised to find the troll first dodging and then grabbing his lance under one arm. Straining his muscles to the uttermost, Jah'ren managed to swing the rider from the saddle and flung both him and the lance away.

He stumbled by the force of his own actions, but then Raz was at his side, pulling him towards the ruins again. They scrambled over the wall just as the rest of the soldiers reached them. An arrow graced Jah'ren's thigh, but there was no time to bind the wound as all five trolls, weapons in hand, turned to meet the enemy.

*

The battle was not an epic one, nor was it pretty. Even outnumbered and tired the trolls did not yield. Their ferocity and rage did not seem to lessen, even as swords, arrows and spears left their marks on their bodies.

When the sun started its descent the squad of soldiers withdrew to a cluster of trees not far away, and gave the trolls a little room to breathe.

Jah'ren leaned against the ancient stonewall behind him and sighed. Every breath made his body shake in exhaustion. Most of his wounds had stopped bleeding, and he sent a quick prayer to the ancestors, thanking them for the ability to heal rapidly.

The small, square ruin had been the perfect place to make their stand, one side of it leaning against the steep, muddy side of a hill, and the other sides being somewhat protected by the fallen stonewalls.

Shadd and Raz held two of the sides, while the two other Longtusks fought side by side at the third. Jah'ren helped out where he was needed and also had the task of making sure none of the soldiers managed to climb the hillside above the ruin to come at them from behind.

"Four arrows," he told the others breathless, and knew he did not need to explain further.

"Six," Ze'Brashi told him, throwing two bloody arrows over to the Darkspear after pulling them from one of the bodies slumped against the wall.

Jah'ren cleaned the arrows on his trousers, knowing they would steer badly if wet, and sighed as he found the wood in one of them splintered.

"It still fly," he comforted himself.

"Wat dey be waiting fo'?" Raz'ik growled, glancing over the wall at the humans in their cover between the trees.

The soldiers had left four of their own laying dead by the ruin, and Shadd had killed one that was left barely breathing, to Tan'tuk's horror. The boy told them he did not like seeing anyone killed when defenceless. Shadd cleaned the youngling's face with a piece of cloth and told him he would have to learn that in battle killing an enemy left for dead would sometimes be a mercy.

Jah'ren studied the faces around him while trying hard to get the involuntary shaking of his body under control.

Raz'ik had the most cuts of them all, but that was only because the big warrior focused more on attacking and hurting than defending himself. Shadd leaned heavily on his spear, strands of black hair hanging loosely around his face, and was talking to himself under his breath. The two others looked absolutely worn out; Ze'Brashi gasping for air as the young boy drew out an arrow from the rogue's shoulder.

"Dey be safe by now," Raz mumbled, lifting his eyes to the darkening sky. "Ah' will be sad not to see me Alli'cha again, but I will be happy knowin' dey be safe."

"Don' talk like dat," Ze'Brashi told him, nodding his head in Tan'tuk's direction. "We be okey-dokey."

*****

**Well, Ze, Okey-dokey is perhaps taking it a bit far. **

**Hope you like the new chapter, finally I found the time, inspiration and energy to write a little. And the story figured it had to lead the way, since I've been stuck in the plot. **

**Thank you for reading.**


	17. Where there's life

The sun blinked and fell beyond the horizon. Jah'ren had closed his eyes a moment to rest, but the sound of voices made him fully awake again, and he joined Shadd by the fallen wall, looking down at the soldiers.

"I think they would not come before night," he sighed as his ears picked up the sound of clanking metal.

"Here dey come!" Shadd warned the others, and drew himself up to his full height, spear in one hand and a short sword he had taken off a fallen enemy in the other.

"Make every arrow count," Ze'Brashi told Jah'ren, touching his shoulder, but it was unnecessary to say, Jah'ren knew very well someone's life could depend on his shots.

The nine remaining soldiers were now bandaged and had been organised by their officer, which made them even more dangerous than earlier when they had just attacked randomly, counting on their numbers to give them victory. Now they attacked from all sides at once, trying to break through the trolls' defenses.

Jah'ren knew very well they would have to hold all sides if they should have a chance to survive. If even one of them fell, the rest would be slaughtered by the soldiers coming from behind.

*

They fought hard, slowly reducing the soldiers' numbers, but feeling how they were all coming closer to their limits.

As the dusk fell thick around them there was suddenly the sound of a horn from the swamp below the little hill. Both humans and trolls almost held their breath, knowing it could be reinforcements for either of them.

Beside Jah'ren, Shadd cut down a soldier with a scream of frustration, and then Jah'ren saw them too.

Up the hillside came another dozen riders, their silvery armour gleaming in the retreating light.

The soldier in front of the wall Jah'ren and Shadd was protecting grinned manically before Jah'ren threw himself at the man, driving his last arrow, the splintered one, through his neck with his bare hands. As the soldier fell, Shadd grabbed the hunter beside him and pulled him into the ruin. They both backed away until their backs were against the muddy crag and the three others flanked them.

"Ah' guess," Ze'Brashi gasped, clutching his side, blood oozing out between his fingers from a deep gash just below his ribs. "Ah' guess dis be where we fin' out if we live o' die."

Jah'ren had thrown away his bow and now both swords lay in his hands. At his side Shadd broke his damaged spear to get a piece better suited for close combat, and handed the short sword he had used to Tan'tuk who had lost his weapon.

The trolls roared together as the soldiers climbed into the ruins, and made their enemy hesitate for just a moment when they saw the insane rage that glowed in five pairs of eyes.

Jah'ren sent a last though to Cassandra and, closing his eyes a short moment, he imagined he could feel her beside him. Upon opening his eyes again, he realised the strange feeling of her presence was still inside his head.

There was a strange chill in the air, like the winter suddenly and without warning had fallen over the Wetlands. And then, the world froze.

The soldiers swore when they felt the frost form around them, holding them fast. Then the air was filled by the sound of ice forming and breaking, and the next moment a shower of ice-shards fell over the knights who had already climbed over the walls.

Jah'ren raised his head and through eyes fogged by fatigue he saw a small figure jumping down from the overhang above.

The forsaken warrior landed awkwardly in front of the five trolls, but regained his balance and opened his mouth in a silent scream as he threw himself forward at the enemy. A second later two snow leopards followed him, their claws and teeth searching for soft places to bite the armoured foe.

Jah'ren staggered a moment, and was grabbed around the waist by Raz, who looked just as shocked as the others.

"Ah' got ya, boy," he told the greenhaired hunter. "Dis be ya tribe, not?"

Jah'ren nodded in silence, and tried focusing on the shapes that whirled around each other in the darkness.

There he could see the sword of the paladin, shining with arcane power, and right beside her; Talandriel's voidwalker as he crushed a knight in his enormous hands. The air was still crackling with cold magic, and looking up he could see a tattered figure outlined against the sky, her hands filled with the flickering blaze of frost.

There were big shadows, two of them, keeping close to each other, and two slimmer ones, one of them hunched over and robed. Concentrating all his remaining strength into looking around, he saw arrows flying into the battle and knew which bow they flew from. At his side Ze'Brashi had collapsed between his sister and her mate, his face twisted in pain.

"Yea," Jah'ren breathed between clenched teeth, struggling to keep conscious. "That be Jah'ren tribe."

He almost slipped from the warrior's hands as he fell, and then everything was soft and warm.

******

**What is this? Two chapters in one day? **

**^^ I'm having peace to write and finally the story told me where it was going. The snow is falling thick outside and I'm sitting here drinking cocoa and wondering if JackalChan will like me playing around with her characters ;) **

**I hope I got the young boy right, that it was Tan'tuk... the priest, I had to check a couple of times, and I think I managed to get it right. I'm tired and lazy today. **

**Please enjoy, nevertheless, and thanks for reading!**


	18. Sanctuary

Cassandra was by Jah'ren side when he awoke, confused and struggling to focus. She gave him a moment to take in the room around them while she asked the female orc functioning as a nurse if she could pop out and tell Hetar her brother was up.

"Where?" Jah'ren managed to say, before Cassandra gave him a little water to drink.

"We're in Hammerfall," she smiled. "You've been out for four days, and missed a lot of action on the way."

"Four days!" Green eyes blinked and blinked, but the room was still spinning around him.

"Yes, the doctor says you were so exhausted we should just let you be until you came to on your own. There were a lot of wounds to bandage, I can tell you. Me and Ba'ka had quite a job stitching you together again."

Jah'ren swallowed another mouthful of water, coughing a little by the feeling of fluids in his dry throat.

"Everyone okey?" he asked, remembering the rogue had been wounded.

"Yeah," Cassandra placed a hand on his forehead and forced him down again. "Ze'Brashi had a nasty turn with that wound of his, but with two priests and a druid we kept him alive until we came here, and the doctor said they been doing a good job."

He opened his mouth to speak again, but was interrupted by Cassandra who quickly told him how they had found the two last members of Aiji's tribe and then had felt they mates were in battle.

"I think we came in the last minute, Ze'Brashi was completely worn out, and I don't think Tanny, I mean; Tan'tuk could have walked a step on his own. We dragged all of you out of there after chasing the soldiers away. Which reminds me; you should probably thank Garam for carrying you all the way."

A nod was all Jah'ren could manage. It was an incredible feeling of relief to know they were safe behind walls and with guards around, and he could rest.

"We did not even stop at night," Cassandra continued. "I have no idea how we kept going, but yesterday morning we saw the walls of Hammerfall, and Hetar almost cried of joy. I don't think they would have let me and Aiji in if it had not been for your sister's friend. And only hours after we came here there were some scouts reporting about a squad of Alliance soldiers coming in from the Wetlands, so they're probably still on our trail. But Tor'gan says we're safe here."

"Tor'gan? Old troll, no hair, big tusks? Say: _Gonna bonk ya head_ a lot?"

"Yep. Sounds like him."

"Oh." Jah'ren put his head down again on the softness of a pillow made from straw. "He be here. Then we be safe."

"He's your uncle, right?"

"Yeah," Hetar answered from the doorway. "He be our mother's brotha. And you," she pointed at Jah'ren and shook her head. "You be the silliest brotha in the whole world!"

As the siblings embraced, Jah'ren squeaking as his sister found all the places that hurt the most and poked them, Cassandra dried a couple of tears from her eyes, not wanting to show how worried she had really been.

*

By the evening Jah'ren was feeling well enough to sit by the fire and eat together with the two tribes and all of the Hammerfall people who were not on guard.

Initially the orcs and undead at the camp had been very suspicions to let the two human girls in. Although none of the others officially belonged to the Horde either, at least they were of the right races.

There were only two trolls at the camp, Tor'gan and Zengu, both full of laughter and tricks to play. When it came to convincing the guards to let the two women in, they had resolved the matter in just minutes and the gates had been opened to let the tattered tribes in.

"Gonna bonk ya head!" Tor'gan laughed when he passed Jah'ren who had curled up close to the fire.

"Not until he's stronger," Hetar warned. "He has to have chance to bonk back!"

There were smiles around the fire, and it soothed Cassandra's heart to see them. Her own tribe seemed to have lost all worries the moment Jah'ren had awoken. Now they were all together again, they had a sanctuary to rest in, food to eat and friends around them.

Aiji's tribe seemed to find their surroundings strange and intimidating, but they too were beginning to find the safety of the walls and guards a comfort. The journey had been hard on them as well, although hardest on Alli'cha, Raz's mate, who were not feeling well, and Aiji's brother, who had been wounded.

Now Ze'Brashi was smiling happily as he watched his sister dance around the fire while she was telling of their childhood and the now almost extinct tribe in broken Orcish.

"We follow da oasis dat travel. Travel far an' wide an' all over. But nao, nao da Oasis be lost, lost to Longtusk, lost to world."

"So ya be searchin' fo' da oasis?" Zengu asked, nodding his head while drumming long fingers on his thighs.

"Me, Aiji, me gonna find it! Brin' it back to home, brin' it back to Longtusk an' make tribe live again."

Her eyes were shining while she spoke, like a prophet from the gods, speaking the words of what was to come. But it might just have been the fire.

******

**I hope they one day will find their Oasis. **

**And in the words of John Cleese: AND NOW for something completely different! Go read the next chapter ;)**


	19. Fogo Juba

The winter found Hammerfall the following week, and covered everything in a thin blanket of white frost. Tor'gan told the tribes it was not often they had snow in Arathi, but the winter could be nasty; cold and windy, and then he sent them out to help gathering food.

Seventeen new people in the camp had been hard on the supplies, and until new provisions came by caravan from Undercity they had to manage with what they could hunt down.

*

"I'm sick and tired of raptor," Cassandra mumbled to herself.

She was walking over a little hill, Bel'Zari at her side and bow in hand. Some distance behind her, Jah'ren was skinning their last kill; a small raptor.

"The only thing that grows in them there hills are raptors," she told Bel'Zari.

The leopard sniffed at the air and seemed to agree with her mistress, eating raptor was getting old, but there was not much choice.

The good thing about it was that all this hunting gave Cassandra practice, and although she would never be as fierce or strong as her mate, her skills with bow and daggers was now something she could feel proud about.

She had walked quite a distance from Jah'ren when she noticed that she had not seen a raptor for a long time.

"We must have eaten them all," she told her pet and laughed by the thought that if there was one thing the Arathi Highlands would never run out of, it was raptors.

As she rounded a big rock laying on a little hill as if a giant had left it there, she stopped with a pleased smile.

The raptor before her was not of the usual kind, and she smiled by the thought of showing such a kill to her mate. This animal was bigger than the others, his skin a deeper red, his eyes more intelligent. Cassandra thought there was something slightly familiar about the beast as she lifted her bow and took aim.

She let the arrow fly, but the raptor jumped to the side, managing to avoid it from hitting, but it left a long, bloody line in the beast's side. Cassandra readied the next arrow, swallowing down the fear as two burning eyes turned to look at her.

Bel'Zari was ready to jump at the beast when suddenly she found her mistress being attacked from behind.

A large arm slammed into Cassandra's body, flinging her some meters away, where she landed on her back. She felt the air being knocked out of her, but managed to crawl up to look at what had attacked her.

She almost whimpered as Bel'Zari too was thrown away by the tall troll, and then something connected in her mind as the image of a hooded rider and a crimson raptor reminded her where she had seen that beast before.

The troll barked something at the raptor, but Cassandra did not get what he said. She managed to get to her feet and was glad to see Bel'Zari standing in front of her, seemingly unharmed.

One look at the troll told her she should try to get out of the situation without fighting him if she treasured her life. He looked strong and fierce, his armour and weapons suggesting he had seen many battles and had the experience to survive many more.

A tall, flaming red mohawk on his head gave her a hint to where to start the most important conversation she had ever had in Zandali.

"Fogo Juba," she hurried to say, pointing at him, trying to keep her voice from faltering. "Da wen Fogo Juba."

He straightened up, red eyes watching her intently through narrowed slits.

"Wa'ka da?" he asked.

Cassandra's brain worked overtime, she had improved her Orcish because they used it in the tribe all the time, but she still had problems with Zandali.

She was just about to answer his question when she noticed a movement at the corner of her eye. The next moment Jah'ren and the other troll were rolling around on the ground, fist pounding at each other, snarling and growling.

"Jah'ren!" Cassandra shouted, fearing her mate would tear the other troll to pieces for threatening her.

The two of them let go of each other and Cassandra was surprised to find them both smiling widely, eyes shining with joy.

"Jah'fon!" the stranger spitted, grinning like a maniac.

Cassandra gasped, knowing enough Zandali to understand her mate had just been insulted in a way that even the rudest troll would think twice about using.

Jah'ren still smiled, a smirk that grew into a snarl and then a growl as he pounced on the other one.

They hit the ground and rolled, Jah'ren pulling the other's hair and it dawned on Cassandra that this was not a fight on life or death, this was like how boys fought; wrestling each other, showing muscle, pulling hair, biting. They rolled into a ball of struggling arms and kicking legs, Jah'ren grabbing the other one's tusks and holding on with all his might.

There was a loudpitched scream from Hetar as she and Ba'ka came running to see what all the fuzz was about. The two older trolls dragged Jah'ren and the stranger apart, laughing and reprimanding in their own language.

Jah'ren's nose was bleeding, and his new leather vest had been torn, but the smile on his face was not possible to mistake.  
The other troll tried to get his mohawk to defy gravity again, but Jah'ren had tousled it enough to make it fall down into his eyes. He was bleeding from his lower lip and had hit his head when Jah'ren jumped at him. Now he sat on the ground, smiling the same idiotic grin as Jah'ren, rubbing one large hand over the back of his head.

"Kor'alli!" Hetar exclaimed, throwing her arms around the stranger's neck, squeezing until he went blue in the face.

"Jandi's brother?" Cassandra gasped, all the stories she had heard about him from Jandi and the others coming together in her mind and finally finding a face to match the crazy troll she imagined.

Kor'alli sprung to his feet, escaping Hetar's irongrip, and held one hand out against Jah'ren. As he helped the greenhaired hunter to his feet, the grip each of them had around the other's hand could have crushed a skull, the challenge in their smiles so obvious Hetar stepped in and knocked them both on the head.

Cassandra watched, slightly amazed, as the two trolls put their arms around each other, embracing each other fondly.

"Parnko," Jah'ren said, his voice not as steady as it used to be.

"Parnko," Kor'alli repeated, tugging teasingly at Jah'ren's green hair.

*****

**The reason for this chapter is one of my most favorite drawings in the world (see the link at the bottom and just take away all the spaces, since they won't let you post links here). We're going towards an end to this story, but Kor'alli had to make his entrance first. He's like a brother to Jah and I needed them to meet. Plus, they're cute together. Wonderful Kor'alli appears courtesy of the beautiful KraeHi ^^**

**And as you know, I'm geeky, thus: Language notes:**

**Da wen Fogo Juba = You are/belong to Fire Mane (clan)  
**

**Wa'ka da = Who be you (very roughly translated)  
**

**Jah'fon: Fon is a suffix in Zandali that means "loner" and one that has strayed from the troll way. It is an insult one should be careful with, if you're not Kor telling Jah it ;)**

**Parnko = Brother**

**Most of the words I have made, inspired by other languages, but Parnko was taught to me by Jah'ren and Kor'alli, who've been hanging over my shoulder all morning. And 'fon I learned from Wowwiki.  
**

go here to see my inspiration: kraehi. deviantart. com /art/ Brothers-of-War-106387119


	20. A night of tales

On the way back to Hammerfall, Cassandra listened while Jah'ren explained about the little tribe and his human mate. Kor'alli laughed and tousled Cassandra's hair affectionately while Hetar translated his comments to her.

"He say it is funny it took a human to do what no troll have done; tame my brotha."

Cassandra smiled at the redhaired troll, finding herself missing the smile of his brother, and got a wink and a grin back. They had told Kor'alli about meeting Jandi in the mountains, something that had been welcome news in the troll's ears.

"Ah' go visit him when done in Arathi," he had told Cassandra in Orcish. "Ah' will tell him Ah' meet him littl' pretty frien'."

She blushed, but met his gaze anyway and smiled at the joy that shone from somewhere behind the ruby eyes. Jah'ren put his arm around Kor'alli's shoulders and laughed all the way to the gate of the Horde camp.

When they entered the camp the first tribemembers that met them were the two bloodelves. Talandriel instantly blushed to the tip of her ears, and started giggling hysterically.

"Ya been chewin' black stick?" Kor'alli grinned as he looked the two women over.

"Shut it, troll," Silvanya snarled, placing a hand on the sword, but Cassandra could see she was struggling not to smile at the newcomer.

"Ya always be so nice, pallydin," the troll laughed, taking the paladin's chin between two fingers and winking at her.

*

It became a night of farewells, laughter, song and tears.

After spending two weeks in Arathi, Aiji had decided it was time to move on and try to find the wandering oasis. The Longtusks had long ago lived with the oasis, but when the tribe had been almost wiped out by human invaders they had lost the contact with the land and their roots as well as the oasis. Aiji saw it as her mission and responsibility to find it and bring it home in an attempt of restoring the Longtusk tribe.

"We kno' an orc in Tarren mill has info'mation 'bout the oasis," she told Cassandra at dinner that night. "Dat be were we go."

Her tribe would leave early next morning, before the patrols from Refuge Pointe would be on the road, to make their way through the Highlands and into Hillsbrad.

To everyone's grief Kor'alli would leave at the same time, taking the road back to the wetlands. He had been sent with a message for the leading officer in Hammerfall and needed to return immediately with an answer. His path took him south, past the mountains and to Stranglethorn Vale, where he would also meet up with his brother if he was lucky enough to find him home.

Cassandra felt saddened to know she would have to tell both the Longtusks and Kor'alli goodbye in the morning. Aiji and the tribe had been good company both to her and her own tribe, and she knew they would all miss the redhaired troll and the laughter that surrounded him.

The evening was spent by the fire, the trolls singing songs in their native tongue, some of them dancing around the flames, their moves telling stories that were as ancient as their race. Even young Tan'tuk was dancing, his steps shy and uncertain, and Aiji showered them in magical glitter as she joined the dance, her voice singing with the others, strong and clear.

Cassandra watched in awe and curiosity as the other woman moved from one tribesmember to another, their moves almost seemed choreographed form time to time, like this was part of an old ritual.

There her brother lifted her, like she was flying, then Raz'ik met her fists with his own, their motions telling of battle and endless fights. Shadd lifted her high before she slid down his body, telling the tale of what Hetar referred to as _the one dance_.

When the Longtusks' stories came to an end, they turned to the Darkspear trolls, encouraging and challenging them to entertain as well.

Hetar stood up and faced the rest of the crowd around the fire.

"We tell the story of the brothas of the hunt. Great Kar'tor and Werenak," she said in Orcish.

Cassandra smiled as Jah'ren and Kor'alli dragged each other up, their grins wide and exited in the flicker of the fire.

"Kar'tor was da strongest from Gurubashi. He have the heart of jungle beatin' in his chest," Hetar began her story as her brother straightened up and flexed long, slim arms. "But from da mighty Amani came Werenak, the lord of fire."

Kor'alli shook his mohawk, and Cassandra could have sworn the two bloodelves by her side sighed out loud. There was a wave of laughter around the campfire as the two friends eyed each other with the greatest suspicion.

"_Gurubashi be da greatest!_ Kar'tor told his enemy. An' Werenak did not answer, for the way of the Amani was only blood. He lift his spear an' challenge Gurubashi."

Strong hands drove a spear into the ground right before Jah'ren's feet and there was an insulted snort from Kor'alli who was enjoying his role as the great warrior.

Hetar told of how the two mighty trolls had run across the world to see who were fastest, they had swum to the bottom of the deepest ocean and then they climbed the highest peak of the world.

Jah'ren and Kor'alli floated around each other, their dance following Hetar's tale.

"On da top of da Mountain of the sky dey stood, both knowin' de other one was just as strong. An' Kar'tor say: _We will decide in blood. Da first drop of red on dis snow will tell who wins an' who looses._"

Then they did fight, hitting and kicking, but none of them ever landed a single blow on the other. Jah'ren ducked under Kor'alli's swirling legs, and the redhaired troll easily dodged the other's fists.

For several minutes there was no sound around the camp but for the breathing of the two fighters, who obviously took their roles in the play very seriously. Then Hetar continued her story:

"For years an' years da two fight on da mountain. But never a drop of blood fell from dem."

The two trolls withdrew from each other, looking tired and worn out.

"Den dey fall to the ground, an' know that never, never could one win over da other."

As if they had been practising it, Jah'ren and Kor'alli fell down on their knees at the same time and their muscles shivered with every breath. Then Jah'ren lifted his head and looked at the Fire Mane.

"Kar'tor raised his head an' look at his enemy. An' Werenak give da Gurubashi his hand in friendship."

Hands connected, eyes smiling.

"_Ya be strong as me. _Da Amani tell his enemy. _From dis day, ya be my brotha. An' when we die, in our blood will be born da clan of da hunters._"

The two hunters smiled at each other, and Cassandra saw in their eyes what she knew Jah'ren had been longing for since the day he decided to leave his family and tribe; somewhere to belong; a feeling of being the same.

"In dat moment da brothas die, an' deir blood run in rivers and oceans out in the world. Still now, when we see a chile with da gift for da hunt we say: He been drinkin' from da red water. An' he will be a brotha of Kar'tor an' Werenak foreva."

Hetar finished her tale, and let the two hunters sit down again.

Jah'ren put his arm around Cassandra and whispered softly in her ear:

"Next time, we tell the story of you and Jah'ren and the river and the soap. Me think everyone will like."

*

When the evening became midnight, Cassandra was carried to bed by her mate. She had fallen asleep in his arms half an hour earlier, while Ba'ka was singing on account of having eaten some of the black stick Kor'alli had shared with him.

She slept soundly for some hours before she awoke and wondered about where her pet was. Bel'Zari had not been by her side for hours and it worried her that the leopard was not sleeping at her side either, like she always did. Careful not to wake Jah'ren, Cassandra tiptoed outside and called for her pet.

She found Bel'Zari playing with the other leopard and Kor'alli's huge raptor in the rocky hillside behind the camp. After making sure they were all good friends and the biting and kicking was just friendly teasing, she turned to go back to the barracks to sleep, when she heard someone giggling.

"Who's there?" she whispered out in the night, staring into the darkness for signs of anyone.

Again there was a suppressed giggling from the darkness between some huge boulders.

"Who be there?" Cassandra asked again, this time in Orcish.

"It's just me," Talandriel's voice answered, and soon Cassandra managed to make out the outline of the bloodelf against the rocky surface.

"And Silvanya," Talandriel continued.

"We're looking at the stars," the paladin hurried to say as she sat up.

Cassandra's eyes were adjusting to the dark and she smiled at the two elves when there suddenly was another laughter from between the rocks, this one deep and rumbling.

"Ah' be here too."

Cassandra's brain put two and two, or rather, three and three together, and blushed a deep crimson that the darkness luckily hid.

"We be lookin' at da stars," Kor'alli chuckled, and the tone of his voice suggested all the other things one could be doing while looking at the stars.

"That sounds nice," Cassandra managed to say.

"Dar be room for ya too," the troll told her, still sniggering as if he was enjoying himself immensely.

There was the sound of a hand hitting a face and Silvanya voice whispering angrily.

"I think I need to go back before Jah'ren misses me," Cassandra squeaked, trying to keep herself from laughing. "You enjoy the stars. They are very beautiful tonight."

"Yea, dey be," Kor'alli said before Silvanya muffled him with her hand.

"Goodnight, Cass," she told her human friend strictly.

Cassandra told them all goodnight and hurried away, giggling all the way back to bed.

As she crawled beneath the covers, Jah'ren snuck one arm around her and whispered:

"Where my Kass go?"

"I looked at the stars, and do you know who I met?"  
"Was he having fun?"

She didn't answer at once, a little cross at how Jah'ren seemed to always know what was going on.

"I think he was enjoying himself very much," she said eventually.

"Good, so be Jah'ren."

He touched her neck with his lips and in moments he was fast asleep once more, his nose buried in her hair, breathing in her smell.

******

**Well. I just needed you all to share this bit with me. I saw it more vivdly than I think I managed to write it, but I hope you'll enjoy it... Kor'alli certainly was.**

**And a friend and reader pointed out to me that I have changed the way some of my characters talk lately, and I felt I needed to explain:**

**For instance, Hetar has more of an accent now than earlier, and that is just because earlier she spoke common (which she actually speaks rather well for a troll with tusks), but now Cassandra has learned Orcish, and I suppose they all speak Orcish in the tribe as that would be the most natural thing in the circumstances.**

**Okey, so it made sense in my head, and luckily, that's where it needs to make sense ;)**

**thanks for reading. ^^**


	21. Taken

**Shortest chapter ever. Please don't kill me ^^ Not after you read it either, although I'm expecting hate-mail ;D LoL**

****

By Winterveil Grandfather Winter had covered the Highlands with his white beard, to both amusement and distress for those in Hammerfall.

On the first day with snow the entire population of the camp, save some guards doing their duty, gathered behind Hammerfall for a snowballfight.

"Who say Horde no fun?" the Tauren Druid roared as he grabbed the back of Ba'ka's head, grinding the troll down into the snow.

Cassandra watched and laughed and delighted in seeing her tribe smiling and playing.

On the horizon, dark clouds lay as an ominous warning for things to come, but none of them had time to read signs, their world filled with the joy of the moment.

*

The clouds were closer the next morning, making Hetar comment on them as some of the tribe had an early stroll through the white landscape, trying to hunt down some raptors.

"Dem be dark, dem skyships."

Cassandra was skinning the first raptor they had killed, together with Mimisa and Ba'ka, when she looked up and frowned at the sky.

"Don' worry," Ba'ka told his mate. "Dem be far away."

"They do look ominous," Silvanya agreed.

The paladin had for once left her beloved warlock in the camp as Talandriel had a slight cold, as did Jah'ren. He had sniffled all night and when the hunting party left Cassandra had wrapped him in blankets and told him not to sulk and stay warm.

They were just about to attack the next raptor when Cassandra collapsed in the snow. Ba'ka was at her side immediately and caught the girl in his arms.

"Jah'ren," she told them through clenched teeth. "Something is wrong."

*

They were back at the camp within the hour, the snow slowing them down while the clouds threatened above.

It seemed peaceful and like everything was alright until they entered and saw Tor'gan sitting on the ground, something small laying in his arms and the doctor kneeling beside him. Silvanya screamed in rage as she saw it was Talandriel.

"What happen?" Hetar asked.

Cassandra leaned heavily on her arm and sounded like she had trouble breathing. Then her breath stopped in a sob as Tor'gan looked up, his head bloody on one side.

"Dey take Jah!" He let the doctor take the warlock from his arms and stumbled to his feet. "Dey take my neff'ju, Thrall's bastards!"

Ba'ka snarled, but managed to control himself enough to take care of the collapsed Cassandra before doing anything rash. As his mate roared in despair he picked up the body of the human and carried her inside after the doctor.

Hetar fell to her knees in the snow and howled. The rest of the tribe watched her with sorrow in their eyes, knowing very well how she adored her little brother.

Tor'gan explained how there had been a patrol coming in from the Highlands and among them had been a troll who recognized Jah'ren as the lost chieftain of the Sre'Kel. The leading officer had arrested the hunter, and when Talandriel and Tor'gan had fought them, they had been hurt. The Hammerfall guards looked away in shame as Hetar screamed at them, questioning the fact that they had not done anything to stop Thrall's people from taking her bother.

"Dey take all da wyverns and fly away wit Jah'ren," Tor'gan spat, ignoring the druid's orders to sit still while he was healed. "Dey take our Jah!"

****

**Sorry. But I have to end the story soon. Because this has been nagging me for weeks. It's just how the story goes. **

**Thank you for reading, and I will try to hurry the next chapter, in the meantime, don't die ^^**


	22. Friendship

Jah'ren shivered in the cold winds around Undercity as he was carried onto the Zeppelin. He had been knocked out on the flight from Hammerfall, and was happy about it; he never liked flying very much.

The guards had gagged him and his hands and feet were chained after he had already tried escaping four times.

As they fastened his chains to a ring on the Zeppelin deck, he knew he would not get away. Even if he had found somewhere to jump off, preferably over water, the chains were sturdy and would make escape difficult. Once they reached Durotar there would be no more chances, no more hope.

He wondered where Cassandra and the rest of the tribe were, if they were safe and if they would be so stupid as to come after him. Inside he knew they would not abandon him, but he tried telling himself they would, knowing they would be safer that way.

*

The Zeppelin used a week to cross the sea to Kalimdor. Jah'ren sat on deck the entire time, suffering whatever the weather threw at him without a sound. The guards gave him a little water from time to time, but did not find it necessary to feed him.

When they hit a hailstorm over the sea between the two continents, one of the Zeppelin crew, a small female goblin, took pity on the hunter and draped him in a tarpaulin to ward off the worst of the storm.

When they got closer to Durotar the weather changed from the wet, cold winter to a dry and dusty one.

Jah'ren had not been home for seven years and as the Zeppelin flew across the red plains where he had grown up a feeling of despair filled him, making him shiver even though it was warmer than he had felt in a long time. The mountain walls that fortified Orgrimmar made his heart sink. Beyond them there would be no more freedom, no more Cassandra or hunts, no more sister and tribe.

*

Upon reaching Orgrimmar he was thrown in a cell below ground and told to await his trail. And he waited.

At day the cell was warm and stifling, but at night the cold crept in through the ground, making his body shake and tremble. The guards sometimes gave him a piece of bread and some water to drink, but often the food was stale and made his stomach protest and throw it up again.

In the beginning Jah'ren counted the days and marked them in the dirt of the cellwalls, but soon he did not even have the strength to do that.

There were ten lines in the wall, and another days six had passed before he was dragged into the sunlight outside.

When he managed to clear his head enough to figure out what was going on he was already tied to a pole, and a male voice was speaking somewhere behind him, but he could not turn his head to look.

"Jah'fon of Sre'Kel will be giv'n da death ov da traitor," the voice said, cold and sounding somewhat bored, as if this was something he had to do all too often.

Jah'ren looked at the crowd that had gathered in the Valley of wisdom, outside the house where the Horde leaders held council. There were mostly orcs in the crowd, orcs always turning up for executions, but here and there he could see trolls and even Tauren among them.

A thick rope tied around his chest and a huge Kodo bull in a pen not far away told Jah'ren how he would die. The traitor's death was not always the same, but it generally included being pulled apart by a large animal.

He lowered his head and sent a prayer to the ancestors to take his soul and let the pain be brief, when he noticed someone was standing in front of him. Looking up he met the eyes of the Darkspear chief.

"Say ya prayers, First Son," Vol'Jin told him, and it dawned on Jah'ren that he should have recognised his voice sooner.

The troll was much taller than most of his tribe and started to look old. His scarred body was covered in strings of beads, feathers and bone, and there was a hint of white through his once flaming hair.

By the pen the animal handlers where readying a harness for the bull, and Jah'ren closed his eyes, trying to look brave, but for the first time in years he was completely terrified.

"Ya be forgettin' something," a voice from the crowd suddenly said, making Vol'Jin frown.

A heavily armoured troll came forward and bowed respectfully before the chief.

"An' what Ah' be forgetting, Knight?" Vol'Jin asked.

"Dar be a custom," the answer came as the troll removed his helmet. "A tradition for traitors."

Vol'Jin snorted and shook his head.

"We don use it no more."

The troll before him blinked his glowing eyes, and in that moment Jah'ren recognised him. A black gauntlet was raised, armoured fingers scratching the dark blue dreadlocks.

"But it still be dar," the Death Knight said, tilting his head a little. "It still be dar."

With a sigh, Vol'Jin turned his attention back to the crowd.

"By tradition," he said, scowling at the Death Knight out of the corned of his eyes. "Ah' will ask: Be dar any who will beg for dis traitor's life?"

"Yea," the Death Knight nodded. "Ah' will beg for him life. We served da Horde together, long ago. Ah' will beg."

He went down on his knees and Jah'ren saw him winking cleverly, but even so; it did not give him much hope. The tradition was an old one, but he knew it usually just meant that there was a lot of waiting before the execution. On of the songs he had heard as a boy told the story of how a great troll of the Darkspear had been executed even as hundreds of trolls knelt down, begging for his life. In the end, the chief would have the last word, and Vol'Jin seemed to be in a hurry to end this.

A second Death Knight knelt down at the armoured troll's side, this one a huge Tauren.

"Terrian will beg with his friend," the Tauren told Vol'Jin, his booming voice filling the valley for a moment.

Jah'ren's eyes caught a movement in the crowd and he gasped in surprise as he noticed a tall, red mohawk making its way through the people like a shark in shallow water.

"We will beg."

The twins were at each other's side, Jandi smiling friendly while Kor'alli frowned, his eyes narrowed in anger.

"Dis hunter be our Parnko," he growled, pointing at Jah'ren. "Da Fogo Juba beg for his life."

Kneeling down, Jandi flashed Jah'ren a brilliant smile and his lips moved silently to explain to the other: _Tor'gan_.

Then Kor'alli knelt too, wordlessly mouthing the rest of the message they had been given: _Dey comin'._

Vol'Jin looked like this turn of events was annoying him extremely much, and as he opened his mouth to once more declare the execution a shout interrupted him.

"Wait!"

Through eyes filling with tears, Jah'ren saw the group that pushed their way through the mass of bodies before him.

"Ya wait, Vol'Jin!" Hetar gasped, trying to catch her breath again after the run from the Zeppelin. "Ah' be his sista."

"Ah' know who ya be, Hetar Silver Tusk," the Darkspear chief said, sighing slightly. "Ya know ya brotha be a traitor."

Hetar's eyes flashed with anger, she raised her eyebrows and looked challenging at the aging troll.

"We come to beg for his life. Ah, his sista, an' dis be his tribe."

She knelt, Ba'ka kneeling at her side. The two forsaken helped each other down on their knees, and at their side the Taurens and Bloodelves lowered their heads and knelt too.

Jah'ren's breath caught in his throat as his eyes fell upon a small cloaked figure among his tribesmembers. What looked like a third forsaken in the eyes of the guards and crowd, was all too familiar to be a comfort to him. Her hands were gloved, her face coloured with dirt and coal, but the eyes that watched him from within the hood was filled with pain, and something more; a stubborn fury.

Tears fell from Jah'ren face and made little circles on the dusty ground before him. Now he was sobbing, not because he feared death, but because he feared more for his mate and his friend's lives.

"What ya be doin', littl'Jin?" a female voice asked, and when Jah'ren finally found the strength to raise his head the newcomer was already standing in front of Vol'Jin.

Her eyes were green like the deep forests, like emeralds. Her white hair braided in a crown around her head, and her face wrinkled, but still strong.

"Dat be me son ya be tryin' to kill, my chief," she said, looking up in Vol'Jin's face with the same look as her daughter had used on him just minutes ago.

"Hejena, Ah' have been asked by Thrall ta take care ov dis an' kill da traitor, an' dat Ah' will do!" Vol'Jin exclaimed, but his voice was more uncertain now.

"Ah' know ya since ya was only a whelp at ya motha's breast, littl'Jin, and Ah' tell ya…"

"No," Vol'Jin interrupted her. "No more. Da warchief give me order."

Jah'ren's mother was surprised to find one of the forsaken suddenly stood at her side, a small, gloved hand touching her arm.

Ignoring the wail of despair from her mate, Cassandra let her hood fall away and looked up at the trollchief towering above her.

"I have come to beg for his life," she told him as he looked at her in mute shock. "I have travelled through your lands and your guards and into this city to beg you to spare his life."

There was mumbling and even some shouts from the crowd. Over by the building that housed the warchief and his council the guards were anxious and gripped their weapons tightly.

Vol'Jin lifted a hand to demand silence and looked down at the human who met his gaze without faltering.

"Ya come a long way for a troll, humin."

Cassandra nodded, not letting her eyes stray from his for even a moment.

"He be my mate," she told the chief, ignoring the gasps and bouts of laughter from around her.

Vol'Jin took her chin in on hand and studied her face thoroughly. When he seemed content he let her go again and turned his back to her, making two guards rush forward in case the human would try anything, but they were told off with a wave of his hand.

"Ah' see an' hear ya all," the chief said, his voice filled with wonder. "But dis humin, dis littl' warrior ov our enemy, she come here, to da city ov her own enemy, an' she tell me dis troll be her mate. An' she tell da truth."

Jah'ren's mother went over to the chief, placing her hand on his arm. Vol'Jin let out a sigh and scratched his head in frustration.

"Ah' be getting' old…" he mumbled.

Then he turned back to Cassandra and looked her over once more.

"What ya name be, mon?"

She told him.

"Take ya mate, Kass'an'dra. Ah' will not stop ya."

The next thing Jah'ren knew his hands were free and his face was being covered in the touches of soft lips. As his tribe embraced him he could not tell one from the other, his head spinning, all he noticed was arms holding him and voices in his ears, soothing and loving.

*****

**There might be another chapter, and there might not. Either way Jah'ren, Cassandra, the tribe and me would like to thank you all for helping us weave this story. We hope you have enjoyed the journey, and maybe we'll see you again some day for another one.**

**Special thanks to:**

** KraeHi, Kor'alli and Jandi. **

**Alina and her amazing artworks.**

**JackalChan, Aiji and the tribe (especially Ze'Brashi ^^)**

**The rest of our readers and fans, especially those who brightened my world with their kind comments and wonderful art. **

**Thank you. 3**


	23. Prologue 1

Jah'ren and his tribe of ragged friends was escorted to Sen'jin, the troll village by the sea, by Hejena and some orc guards. The old troll woman leaned on Jah'ren's arm the whole way and in her wrinkled eyes there were tears.  
Cassandra was walking beside Hejena, as the troll had taken her hand and did not seem to be letting go of it. Her human instincts tried telling her she was in danger, being in the middle of Horde territory with enemies on all sides, but she ignored them, because she had learned.  
As she turned to smile at her friends walking behind them, her eyes met the sparkling blue eyes of the troll who, she had been explained, was Jah'ren's old friend and now a death knight. Beside him walked a tauren, bigger than Garam by far, with the same frozen eyes and one broken horn.  
Arriving in the village the tribe caused quite a ruckus. Hejena calmed it all down by speaking in her slow and cold manner, sounding like Cassandra's old schoolteacher. It was a voice telling whoever listened that if they tried crossing her they would have their butts spanked.

The drums could be heard all the way to Razor Hill that evening. The orcs on guard-duty listened and wondered as the sound of the party reached their ears.  
Cassandra had been treated with more hospitality and kindness than she had ever hoped for. Sitting beside Hejena by the huge bonfire on the beach, she watched Jah'ren dance and talk and laugh. She had expected him to be tired and worn after the trials he had been through, but it seemed that coming home had revived him and now he was more alive than ever.  
Ba'ka, Hetar and the Fogo Juba twins had joined him as he got up to dance, and the five of them danced old stories to the beat of a dozen drums.

When Cassandra felt like she needed a moment to herself, she walked down to where small waves licked the sand of the beach and stood there listening to the happy sounds behind her.  
The stars were out and the ocean mirrored them, making her feel like standing on the edge of the world, surrounded by velvet darkness littered with blinking lights.  
"Yah got somethin' on yah mind," a deep voice said behind her.  
When she turned it was to find the Death Knight standing there. His presence did not alarm her, he always had such a calmness about him.  
"How you know that?" she smiled.  
"Ah be old, an' Ah take time to look an' see."  
Cassandra nodded. She had heard the stories from when Jah'ren and Ba'ka had been travelling with him, and she had come to understand he was rather unique.  
"If yah wanna tell someone, Za'rhin be a good listener," he offered. "An' Ah nevah tell secrets."  
Her eyes turned to the sea again.  
"I have something important I have to tell Jah'ren, and I don't know how. Maybe it will hurt him, or scare him, or maybe … I don't know. I just don't know how to tell him."  
A hand touched her shoulder.  
"He love yah," Za'rhin comforted. "He will understand."  
"I'm with child."  
It was incredibly good to say the words out loud. She had been carrying the secret for two months and it had begun to weight heavy on her. The hand on her shoulder moved and slid around her body. He rested his palm on her stomach.  
"A little Jah'ren." She could hear the smile in his voice. "Or a little Cass."  
Cassandra leaned back against the troll's body, and he held her as she sobbed.  
"I'm sorry," she began, but was silenced but a soothing hush.  
"Yah no need to explain. Za'rhin understand."  
He hugged her body and she felt safe and cared for.  
Then a face emerged from the darkness beside them and Jah'ren looked at them curiously.  
"Dat be mah woman, Za'rhin," he laughed. "Yah canna have her."  
This was answered with a deep and silent laughter from the Death Knight.  
"Yah wanna fight me for her?" Za'rhin grinned in the darkness. "'Cause last time we fought Ah kicked yah butt pretty well."  
They both laughed again, while Za'rhin pushed Cassandra into the arms of her mate.  
"Nah," he smiled. "She be yours. She an' da whelp."  
With that he stroked a finger along Cassandra's cheek, drying away a tear, and walked back towards the camp, grinning to himself.

*****

**Oh, A prologue. How intriguing.**

**There's a part 2. I just did it because I did not feel the story was finished yet.**


	24. Prologue 2

"Mommy! Mommy! Ah can see dem!"  
The girl rushed over to her mother, who was behind the little house, hanging clothes up to dry.  
"Where's your father?" the woman asked and looked up the hill behind their house when her daughter pointed.  
"Jah'ren!" she shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Jani! They are coming."  
As she followed her daughter to the front of the house, the feeling of her heart beating excitedly in her chest made her smile.  
There were five riders on the path leading to their home, still far away, but she knew it was them. The girl beside her tried to flatten her unruly hair with her hands. Cassandra watched her lick her palms and then lift them.  
"No, Callie," she told the child. "We don't need spit in our hair."  
Calina, six years old and with eyes as green as a forest, pushed her lower lip out over her small tusks and pouted.  
"Da says Ah can!"  
"Your dad would wash with his tongue if he could, that does not mean we should. Now come here."  
Cassandra braided the green hair and kissed her daughter's head.  
"Do yah think dey got presents for me?" Calina asked, jumping up and down in excitement.  
"For me too!" a voice said behind them as the two last members of the family came to stand with them.  
Calina's twin had been a surprise when he was born, small and frail and unexpected, but not less loved. Where Calina took after her father, Jani had more human in him, with his tuskless mouth and big brown eyes. His dirt-brown hair was cut into a mohawk, but it hung down over one side of his face as it was unwilling to stand up. Both children had a pale bluish tint to their skin, three fingers on each hand and two toes.  
As the riders came up the hillside, one of them dismounted and left his raptor behind as he ran the last meters up to the house. His long, blue dreadlocks swirled as he ran and there was a happy grin on his face.  
"Uncl' Za!" the children squealed in unison before they were captured in a crushing embrace.  
"Mah little Callie! An' Jani."  
Za'rhin lifted both whelps and held them until the other riders also dismounted.  
"Mah little children!" The children were dragged out of the Death Knight's arms and crushed by a tall trollwoman.  
"Auntie! Auntie!" Jani squeaked as he was hugged. "I have found a rock for you! A nice one!"

There were kisses and laughter, hugs and embraces and hands locked in friendship.  
Cassandra felt the tears in her eyes as Za'rhin lifted her into a hug.  
"We have not seen you for a year," she complained. "You have been missed."  
"We have been busy," the troll told her, nodding his head towards the only Tauren in the newly arrived guests. "Me an' Terrian have been needed. Ah'll tell yah later," he whispered, letting her understand there was something important there, but it could wait.  
As she felt the ground under her feet again, Cassandra laughed to see Jani trying to get his mohawk up with the help of Kor'alli of the Fogo Juba clan. Kor'alli had been there when the twins were born and she remembered well the tears in his eyes as she told him her son would be named after his own twin, Jandi, who had died some years earlier.  
"Ah got somethin' for whelps who have been good," the last of the group said.  
He was taller than the others, with his white hair braided.  
Even though they had just arrived five minutes ago, Jah'ren had already teased the priest about his hair loosing its colour, but Ba'ka was used to it and ignored his Tata Parnko with a smile.  
"Ba'ka," Cassandra said, sighing as the priest frowned at her. "The presents can wait a little, until we have all said hello and eaten the cake."  
"Can dey?" the priest asked, pouting like he was four years old.  
"No!" the whelps yelled.  
Cassandra shook her head and stood back to watch her children be spoiled rotten by their uncles and aunt.

****

**Where something ends, something else begins. **

**I had not planned to write more about them right now. But it might look like another story is about to start. I don't know. It might mean putting other things on hold... again. I have so precious little time to write these days.**

**But one thing Za'rhin and me are certain of; there is something brewing. A storm. And it will take a lot to see it through. **

**Well. For now; **

**The End, and thank you for listening and reading and loving this journey we have been taking. **

**Until another journey begins...**


End file.
